Editing Alex North

{{Short description|American composer}}
{{For|the fictional character|Alex North (Doctors)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name         = Alex North
| image        =
| birth_name   = Isadore Soifer
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1910|12|4}}
| birth_place  = [[Chester, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1991|9|8|1910|12|4}}
| death_place  = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| genre        = [[Film score]], [[theatre]], [[classical rock]], [[jazz rock]]
| occupation   = Composer
| years_active =
}}
'''Alex North''' (born '''Isadore Soifer'''; December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (one of the first jazz-based film scores),  ''[[Viva Zapata!]]'', ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'', ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'', and ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]''<ref name="Larkin50">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=2002|edition=Third|isbn=1-85227-937-0|pages=308/9}}</ref> He received fifteen [[Academy Award]] nominations for his work as a composer; while he did not win for any of his nominations, he received an [[Honorary Academy Award]] in 1986, the first for a composer.<ref name=Alex_North_papers>{{cite web |title=Alex North papers |url=https://academycollection.org/web/arena/search#/entity/academy/collections%3A695/alex-north-papers |publisher=Academy Collection}}</ref>

He wrote the music for the [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Oscar-nominated song]] "[[Unchained Melody]]", which was used in the 1955 prison film ''[[Unchained (film)|Unchained]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/94336/unchained#awards |title=''Unchained'' |publisher=[[Turner Classic Movies]] |access-date=April 29, 2021}}</ref> The song became a [[standard (music)|standard]] and one of the most recorded of the 20th century, with over 1,500 recordings made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages.<ref>{{cite web |archive-date=9 December 2024 |url=http://www.unchainedmelodypublishing.com/ |title=Unchained Melody |publisher=Unchained Melody Publishing LLC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241209160912/http://unchainedmelodypublishing.com/ }}</ref>

==Early life==
North was born Isadore Soifer in [[Chester, Pennsylvania]], to [[Jewish]] parents Jesse and Beila (Bessie). They had emigrated from the [[Russian Empire]] to the U.S. around 1906. Jesse was originally from [[Bila Tserkva]] and Bessie from [[Odessa]] (both cities are now in [[Ukraine]]). In Chester, Jesse worked as a blacksmith and skilled mechanic, and Bessie ran a small grocery store.<ref>{{cite book |title=Alex North, Film Composer |first=Sanya Shoilevska |last=Henderson |publisher=McFarland |year=2009 |ISBN=9780786443338 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JH3ajCxpfSUC&pg=PA7 |page=7}}</ref> In 1915, Jesse died on the operating table during surgery for [[appendicitis]], leaving Bessie with financial hardships.{{sfn|Henderson|2009|p=10}} In the late 1920s, Isadore's older brother Jacob began writing articles for radical labor publications. To shield his family from political peril, Jacob adopted the [[pseudonym]] "[[Joseph North (writer)|Joseph North]]". Soon the family followed his lead, and Isadore Soifer became Alex North.{{sfn|Henderson|2009|pp=12–13}}

In the [[World War II|Second World War]], Alex served as a [[Captain (United States O-3)|captain]] in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] [[Special Services (entertainment)|Special Services]] division from 1942 to 1946.<ref name="jazzpro">{{cite web |url=http://www.jazzprofessional.com/interviews/Alex%20North.htm |title=Alex North, Hollywood Film Composer, Talking to Howard Lucraft in 1987 |publisher=Jazz Professional |access-date= August 12, 2021}}</ref><ref name="bowl">[https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/musicdb/pieces/1311/cleopatra-symphony-us-premiere Cleopatra Symphony (U.S. premiere): Alex North] [[Hollywood Bowl|www.hollywoodbowl.com]]. Retrieved August 12, 2021.</ref> There, he was responsible for "self-entertainment" programs in mental hospitals. He also composed music for more than twenty-six documentary films for the [[United States Office of War Information|Office of War Information]].<ref name="jazzpro"/> While in the service, he wrote the score for the documentary short, ''A Better Tomorrow'' (1945).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0214531/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_ql_1 |title=A Better Tomorrow (1945) |publisher=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>

==Career==
North managed to integrate his [[modernism]] into typical film music [[leitmotif]] structure, rich with themes. One of these became the famous song "[[Unchained Melody]]".<ref name="Larkin50"/> Nominated for fifteen [[Academy Awards|Oscars]] but unsuccessful each time, North is one of only two [[Film score|film composers]] to receive the [[Academy Honorary Award|Lifetime Achievement Academy Award]], the other being [[Ennio Morricone]]. North's frequent collaborator as orchestrator was the avant-garde composer [[Henry Brant]]. He won the 1968 [[Golden Globe]] award for his music to ''[[The Shoes of the Fisherman (movie)|The Shoes of the Fisherman]]'' (1968).

His best-known film scores include ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'', ''[[Death of a Salesman (1951 film)|Death of a Salesman]]'', ''[[Viva Zapata!]]'', ''[[The Rainmaker (1956 film)|The Rainmaker]]'', ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'', ''[[The Misfits (1961 film)|The Misfits]]'', ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'', ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'', ''[[Dragonslayer (1981 film)|Dragonslayer]]'' and ''[[Under the Volcano (1984 film)|Under the Volcano]]''.<ref name="Larkin50"/> His music for ''[[The Wonderful Country (film)|The Wonderful Country]]'' makes use of Mexican and American motifs.

His [[2001: A Space Odyssey (score)|commissioned score]] for ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' (1968) is notorious for having been discarded by director [[Stanley Kubrick]] late in the production process. Although North subsequently incorporated motifs from the rejected score for ''[[The Shoes of the Fisherman (movie)|The Shoes of the Fisherman]]'', ''[[Shanks (film)|Shanks]]'' and ''[[Dragonslayer (1981 film)|Dragonslayer]]'', the score itself remained unheard until composer [[Jerry Goldsmith]] re-recorded it for [[Varèse Sarabande]] in 1993. In 2007, [[Intrada Records]] released the 1968 recording sessions on CD from North's personal archives.

North was also commissioned to write a jazz score for ''[[Nero Wolfe#Nero Wolfe (CBS)|Nero Wolfe]]'', a 1959 CBS-TV series based on [[Rex Stout]]'s Nero Wolfe characters, starring [[William Shatner]] as Archie Goodwin and [[Kurt Kasznar]] as Nero Wolfe.<ref>''[[Billboard (magazine)|The Billboard]]'', April 20, 1959, pp. 38 + 40</ref>  A pilot and two or three episodes were filmed, but the designated time slot was, in the end, given to another series.<ref>{{cite news |title=Marian Anderson Will Sing on C.B.S. |first=Richard F. |last=Shepard |date=1959-04-09 |department=Business |page=61 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/04/09/archives/marian-anderson-will-sing-on-cbs-signed-for-cocacola-tv-variety.html |access-date=2023-07-15 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ewald |first=William |title=Television in Review |work=News Herald |date=April 9, 1959 |location=New York}}</ref> North's unheard score for ''Nero Wolfe'' and six recorded tracks on digital audio tape are in the UCLA Music Library Special Collections.<ref name="Wrobel, Bill">{{cite web |title=CBS Collection 072 UCLA |url=http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/other/cbs_collection.pdf |last=Wrobel |first=Bill |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821050345/http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/other/cbs_collection.pdf |archive-date=21 August 2010 |publisher=Film Score Rundowns}} The film score researcher identifies 30 CBS digital audio tapes in the UCLA Music Library Special Collections (p. 168), with tracks 86–91 of DAT #11 being the ''Nero Wolfe'' music of Alex North (p. 174). The score, CPN5912, is in Box #105 (p. 51).</ref> He wrote the music for various other TV shows, such as the anthologies ''[[Climax!]]'' and ''[[Playhouse 90]]''.<ref name="Larkin50"/>

Though North is best known for his work in Hollywood, he spent years in New York writing music for the stage; he composed the score for the original Broadway production of ''[[Death of a Salesman]]''. It was in New York that he met [[Elia Kazan]] (director of ''Salesman''), who brought him to Hollywood in the 1950s. North was one of several composers who merged the sound of contemporary concert music into film, in part marked by an increased use of dissonance and complex rhythms. But there is also a lyrical quality to much of his work which may be connected to the influence of [[Aaron Copland]], with whom he studied in 1936–37.{{sfn|Henderson|2009|p=21}}

His classical works include two symphonies and a ''Rhapsody for Piano, Trumpet obbligato and Orchestra''. His music for the 1976 television miniseries ''[[Rich Man, Poor Man (TV miniseries)|Rich Man, Poor Man]]'' was a [[Grammy Award]] nominee and an [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series|Emmy Award winner]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Alex North (1910-1991) |url=http://www.pytheasmusic.org/north.html |publisher=Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music |last=Broxton |first=Jonathan}}</ref> He went on to score the sequel ''[[Rich Man, Poor Man Book II]]'' as well as the 1978 miniseries ''[[The Word (novel)#TV miniseries|The Word]]''. North is also known for his opening to the [[CBS]] television anthology series ''[[Playhouse 90]]'' and the 1965 [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television miniseries ''FDR''.

== Legacy and recognition ==
North was recognized for his lifetime achievement in 2004 from the Sammy Film Music Awards.

In 2016, the Library of Congress added North's 1951 recording of his score to "A Streetcar Named Desire" to its National Recording Registry.

== Death ==
North died on September 8, 1991, in Los Angeles, California.  He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.

==Awards==
The [[American Film Institute]] ranked North's score for ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' #19 on [[AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores|their list of the greatest film scores]]. His scores for the following films were also nominated for the list:
*''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963)
*''[[The Misfits (1961 film)|The Misfits]]'' (1961)
*''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'' (1960)
*''[[Viva Zapata!]]'' (1952)
*''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'' (1966)

North was nominated for fifteen Academy Awards throughout his career, one for [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song]], the rest in the [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]] category, making him the most-nominated composer to have never won. He was however awarded an [[Honorary Academy Award]] in 1986; he was the first composer to receive it.

*'''Nominated''' - ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (1951)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Death of a Salesman (1951 film)|Death of a Salesman]]'' (1951)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Viva Zapata!]]'' (1952)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[The Rose Tattoo (film)|The Rose Tattoo]]'' (1955)
*'''Nominated''' - Best Original Song (with [[Hy Zaret]]) "[[Unchained Melody]]" (1955)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[The Rainmaker (1956 film)|The Rainmaker]]'' (1956)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'' (1960)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[The Agony and the Ecstasy (film)|The Agony and the Ecstasy]]'' (1965)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'' (1966)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[The Shoes of the Fisherman (movie)|The Shoes of the Fisherman]]'' (1968)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Shanks (film)|Shanks]]'' (1974)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Bite the Bullet (film)|Bite the Bullet]]'' (1975)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Dragonslayer (1981 film)|Dragonslayer]]'' (1981)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Under the Volcano (1984 film)|Under the Volcano]]'' (1984)
*'''Winner''' - Honorary Oscar "in recognition of his brilliant artistry in the creation of memorable music for a host of distinguished motion pictures." (1986)

[[Golden Globe Awards]] for Original Score:
*'''Nominated''' - [[Spartacus (film)|''Spartacus'']] (1960)
*'''Winner''' - ''[[The Shoes of the Fisherman (movie)|The Shoes of the Fisherman]]'' (1968)

[[ASCAP]] Award for Original Score:
*'''Winner''' - Lifetime Achievement (1986)
*'''Winner''' - ''[[Good Morning, Vietnam]]'' (1987)

[[Emmy Awards]] for Music Composition:
*'''Winner''' - ''[[Rich Man, Poor Man (miniseries)|Rich Man, Poor Man]]'' (1976)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[The Word (novel)#TV miniseries|The Word]]'' (1978)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Death of a Salesman (1985 film)|Death of a Salesman]]'' (1985)

[[Grammy Awards]] for Original Score:
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963)
*'''Nominated''' - ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'' (1966)
*'''Nominated''' - [[Rich Man, Poor Man (miniseries)|''Rich Man, Poor Man'']] (1976)

==Selected filmography==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (1951)
*''[[Death of a Salesman (1951 film)|Death of a Salesman]]'' (1951)
*''[[Viva Zapata!]]'' (1952)
*''[[Les Misérables (1952 film)|Les Misérables]]'' (1952)
*''[[Désirée (film)|Désirée]]'' (1954)
*''[[Unchained (film)|Unchained]]'' (1955)
*''[[The Rose Tattoo (film)|The Rose Tattoo]]'' (1955)
*''[[I'll Cry Tomorrow]]'' (1955)
*''[[The Bad Seed (1956 film)|The Bad Seed]]'' (1956)
*''[[The Rainmaker (1956 film)|The Rainmaker]]'' (1956)
*''[[The King and Four Queens]]'' (1956)
*''[[The Long, Hot Summer]]'' (1958)
*''[[Stage Struck (1958 film)|Stage Struck]]'' (1958)
*''[[Hot Spell (film)|Hot Spell]]'' (1958)
*''[[The Sound and the Fury (1959 film)|The Sound and the Fury]]'' (1959)
*''[[The Wonderful Country (film)|The Wonderful Country]]'' (1959)
*''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'' (1960)
*''[[The Misfits (1961 film)|The Misfits]]'' (1961)
*''[[Sanctuary (1961 film)|Sanctuary]]'' (1961)
*''[[The Children's Hour (film)|The Children's Hour]]'' (1961)
*''[[All Fall Down (1962 film)|All Fall Down]]'' (1962)
*''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963)
*''[[Cheyenne Autumn]]'' (1964)
*''[[The Outrage (1964 film)|The Outrage]]'' (1964)
*''[[The Agony and the Ecstasy (film)|The Agony and the Ecstasy]]'' (1965)
*''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'' (1966)
*''[[The Devil's Brigade (film)|The Devil's Brigade]]'' (1968)
*''[[The Shoes of the Fisherman (movie)|The Shoes of the Fisherman]]'' (1968)
*''[[Hard Contract]]'' (1969)
*''[[A Dream of Kings (film)|A Dream of Kings]]'' (1969)
*''[[Willard (1971 film)|Willard]]'' (1971)
*''[[Pocket Money]]'' (1972)
*''[[Shanks (film)|Shanks]]'' (1974)
*''[[Bite the Bullet (film)|Bite the Bullet]]'' (1975)
*''[[Journey into Fear (1975 film)|Journey into Fear]]'' (1975)
*''[[Somebody Killed Her Husband]]'' (1978)
*''[[Wise Blood (film)|Wise Blood]]'' (1979)
*''[[Carny (1980 film)|Carny]]'' (1980)
*''[[Dragonslayer (1981 film)|Dragonslayer]]'' (1981)
*''[[Under the Volcano (1984 film)|Under the Volcano]]'' (1984)
*''[[Prizzi's Honor]]'' (1985)
*''[[The Dead (1987 film)|The Dead]]'' (1987)
*''[[Good Morning, Vietnam]]'' (1987)
*''[[The Penitent (film)|The Penitent]]'' (1988)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Archival records|title=Alex North music for documentary film, theater, dance, and concert, ...|location= [[Music Division, Library of Congress]]|description_URL=https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu020007}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
* {{official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20180201212601/http://www.alexnorthmusic.com/}}
* {{IMDb name|6218}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20241209160912/http://unchainedmelodypublishing.com/ Unchained Melody Publishing LLC] is the publishing administrator for "Unchained Melody".
* [https://academycollection.org/web/arena/search#/entity/academy/collections%3A695/alex-north-papers Alex North papers], Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

{{Navboxes
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{{Academy Honorary Award}}
{{EmmyAward MusicCompositionSeries}}
{{Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score 1947–1969}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:North, Alex}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients]]
[[Category:American film score composers]]
[[Category:American jazz composers]]
[[Category:American male classical composers]]
[[Category:American male film score composers]]
[[Category:American male jazz composers]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Classical musicians from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Golden Globe Award–winning musicians]]
[[Category:Jazz-influenced classical composers]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Jewish American classical composers]]
[[Category:Jewish American military personnel]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Musicians from Delaware County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People from Chester, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People from Ridgefield, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:RCA Victor artists]]
[[Category:Varèse Sarabande Records artists]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]