Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film and creating The Simpsons main title theme as well as the 1989 Batman movie theme. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Oingo Boingo, from 1976 to 1995. He has scored the majority of the films for his long-time friend Tim Burton.
Born in Los Angeles, he entered the film industry in 1976, initially as an actor. He made his film scoring début in in 1980 for the film Forbidden Zone directed by his older brother Richard Elfman. He has since been nominated for four Academy Awards and won a Grammy Award for Tim Burton's Batman and an Emmy Award[1] for his Desperate Housewives theme. Elfman was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 2002 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.[2]
Elfman, who is Jewish, was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Blossom Elfman (née Bernstein), a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, a teacher who was in the Air Force.[3][4] Elfman grew up in a racially mixed community in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles.[5] He spent much of his time in the local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman.
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