Johnny Mandel, the Oscar-winning and Grammy-winning songwriter of “The Shadow of Your Smile”, “Emily” and the theme song “M * A * S * H”, has died. He was 94 years old.
“I was very saddened to learn that a hero of mine, Johnny Mandel, passed away,” wrote Michael Buble on Twitter. “He was a genius and one of my favorite writers, arrangers, and personalities. It was a beast. “
“A dear friend and extraordinary arranger composer and brilliant general talent, Johnny Mandel, has just passed away,” wrote Michael Feinstein on Facebook. “The world will never be the same without its humor, wit and ironic vision of life and the human condition. He was truly incomparable, and no one could write or organize the way he did. Sir, we will miss you. Let’s celebrate with their music! He would like that.
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Honoree Johnny Mandel attends the 41st Annual Composers Hall of Fame Ceremony at the New York Marriott Marquis on June 17, 2010 in New York City.
(Getty)
Mandel was considered one of the best arrangers of the second half of the 20th century, providing elegant orchestra rosters for a wide range of vocalists, including Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, and Hoagy Carmichael.
Mandel scored over 30 films during his Hollywood career, including the 1960 films “The Americanization of Emily” (from which the hit song “Emily” emerged), “The Sandpiper” (containing “The Shadow of Your Smile” , winning an Oscar and a Grammy for Song of the Year along with lyricist Paul Francis Webster), “Harper”, “An American Dream” (which featured the Oscar-nominated song “A Time for Love”), “The Russians Are Coming , the Russian “They are coming” and “blank spot”.
In 1970, he composed “M * A * S * H”, which required a song he improvised from lyrics by director Robert Altman’s 15-year-old son, Michael. That song, “Suicide Is Painless,” later instrumentally became the subject of the long-running television series and one of his most famous works.
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His later film scores included “Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams”, “The Last Detail”, “The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea”, “Agatha” (including the song “Close Enough for Love”, now standard), ” Be there “,” Caddyshack “,” Deathtrap “and” The Verdict “.
In addition to the theme song “M * A * S * H”, he composed the themes for “Banyon” and “Too Close for Comfort” on television, as well as scores for series such as “Markham” and “Chrysler Theater”. He earned Emmy nominations for his sheet music for 1980s television movies “A Letter to Three Wives”, “LBJ: The Early Years” and “Foxfire”. His other telefilms as a composer included “Evita Peron”, “Christmas Eve” and “Kaleidoscope”.
Mandel was born in New York City. He played the trumpet as a teenager and, fascinated by the different sounds of the great bands he admired in the late 1930s and early 1940s, he began studying arrangements with the best arranger Van Alexander (who had written “A-Tisket , A -Tasket “for Ella Fitzgerald). She always credited Alexander for launching her career as an arranger.
As a trumpeter, he played for the Joe Venuti band; After switching instruments to the trombone, he played on the swing bands of Henry Jerome, Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, Alvino Rey, and Count Basie in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
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He completed his musical education at the Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard in New York, then began organizing other bands, including those by Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, Elliot Lawrence, and Chet Baker.
In the early 1950s, Mandel was one of the organizers of New York-based Sid Caesar’s 90-minute live television series “Your Show of Shows.” Mandel moved to California in the late 1950s and began composing for movies, including an iconic jazz score for “I Want to Live,” starring Susan Hayward, in 1958.
He received the Golden Score Award from the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers in 1996; He was inducted into the Composers Hall of Fame in 2010; and was named Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2011.
Her five Grammys included two for “The Sandpiper” (1965, song and score) and Quincy Jones’ album honor organization (1981), Natalie Cole (“Unforgettable”, 1991) and Shirley Horn (1992).
Throughout his movie recording period (1958-1990) and beyond, Mandel continued to make arrangements for leading artists such as Mel Torme, Anita O’Day, Nancy Wilson, Diana Krall, Michael Bolton, Barry Manilow, and Manhattan Transfer. She also served on the ASCAP board of directors for many years.
He is survived by his daughter, Marissa.
