Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer. He has received four Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, and two Grammy nominations. Desplat won his first Golden Globe for The Painted Veil in 2006, his first British Academy Film Award in 2011 and his first Grammy Award in 2012 for The King's Speech. Among various projects, Desplat has worked on a variety of Hollywood films including independent and commercial successes like The Queen, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, New Moon, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2.
Desplat was born in Paris to a French father and a Greek mother who met at the University of California, Berkeley.[1] After their marriage, they moved back to France, where Alexandre was born. Alexandre is the younger brother of Vic Desplat. At the age of five, he began playing piano. He also became proficient on trumpet and flute. He studied with Claude Ballif, Iannis Xenakis in France and Jack Hayes in the U.S. Desplat's musical interests were wide, and he was also influenced by South American and African artists and teachers, among whom were Carlinhos Brown and Ray Lema. Desplat swiftly became skilled, both as a performer and a composer.
Desplat has composed extensively for French cinema, Hollywood, and incidental music for over 100 films including Lapse of Memory (1992), Family Express (1992), Regarde Les Hommes Tomber (1994), Les Péchés Mortels (1995), César-nominated Un Héros Très Discret (1996), Une Minute de Silence (1998), Sweet Revenge (1998), Le Château des Singes (1999), Home Sweet Home (2001), Reines d'un Jour (2001), the César-nominated Sur mes lèvres (2002), Rire et Châtiment (2003), Césars-Winning The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005), The Queen (2006), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), The Ghost Writer (2010), Daniel Auteuil's remake of La Fille du Puisatier (2011), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011).
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