Ernest Gold (composer)

Ernest Gold (born Ernst Sigmund Goldner; July 13, 1921 – March 17, 1999) was an Austria-born American composer.

Life and career

Gold was born in Vienna. He moved to the U.S. in 1938, after the Anschluss of Austria (his paternal grandfather was Jewish).^[2][3] Gold wrote nearly 100 film and television scores between 1945 and 1992. Among his credits are Too Much, Too Soon, Exodus, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, On the Beach, A Child is Waiting, Fun with Dick and Jane, and Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff.

Gold's contributions were recognized with four Academy Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations. He won a Golden Globe in 1960 for Best Motion Picture Score for 1959's On the Beach, and won an Academy Award a year later for Best Music: Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, for Exodus. His work on On the Beach also won Gold a Grammy Award. The Hollywood Walk of Fame has also recognized him with a star on famed Hollywood Boulevard. Gold composed the music for the 1968 Broadway musical I'm Solomon. His classical works also included a piano concerto, a string quartet, and a piano sonata.

He was married three times; his second marriage was to singer/actress Marni Nixon from 1950–1969 and produced three children, including musician Andrew Gold (composer of "Lonely Boy" and "Thank You for Being a Friend"). Nixon claimed in her autobiography ("I Could Have Sung All Night") that Gold was repeatedly unfaithful to her throughout their 19-year marriage. From 1975–1999 he was married to Jan Keller Gold.

Ernest Gold's "Fight for Survival" from Exodus was sampled by Moby in his song Porcelain (song).

Ernest Gold died on March 17, 1999 in Santa Monica, California at the age of 77 from complications following a stroke.^[2][4]

Selected filmography

• The Falcon's Alibi (1946)
• Too Much, Too Soon (1958)
• On the Beach (1959)
• Inherit the Wind (1960)
• Exodus (1960)
• Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
• A Child Is Waiting (1963)
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
• Ship of Fools (1965)
• The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)
• Fun with Dick and Jane (1977)
• Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979)
• Tom Horn (1980)

References

External links

• Ernest Gold at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ernest Gold bio at Answers.com
• Ernest Gold at the Internet Movie Database