Michel Jean Legrand (February 24, 1932 – January 26, 2019) was a French composer, arranger, conductor, songwriter and jazz pianist of French and Armenian descent.
A prolific and acclaimed composer who was sought after both in France and in Hollywood, he composed the scores of over 200 film and television productions, in addition to writing many songs. He won three Academy Awards. Among his most well remembered scores, those he did for the films of Jacques Demy particularly stood out, earning him his first Academy Award nominations.
Legrand died of sepsis on 26 January 2019 following a pulmonary infection.
Scores composed by Michel Legrand include:
- Lola (1961)
- Une femme est une femme (1961)
- Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962)
- Vivre sa vie (1962)
- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
- The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)
- Ice Station Zebra (1968)
- The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
- La Piscine (1969)
- Donkeyskin (1970)
- Brian's Song (1971)
- Le Mans (1971)
- The Married Couple of the Year Two (1971)
- Summer of '42 (1971)
- The Three Musketeers (1973)
- Never Say Never Again (1983)
- Il Était Une Fois... (1978-2008)
- The Other Side of the Wind (2018)
His body of work provides examples of:
- Associated Composer: He's been most associated with director Jacques Demy, composing scores for the latter's films Lola, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Young Girls of Rochefort and Donkeyskin. They were great friends and even called themselves "twin brothers".
- The Musical: Composed the scores of some of the most memorable French film musicals, including The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort.
- Posthumous Collaboration: His last score, for The Other Side of The Wind, in 2018. It is the famously unreleased (until 2018) film of Orson Welles, who worked on it on-and-off between 1970 and 1976 and died in 1985.
