Henry Mancini was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 16, 1924. His father,
Quinto, and his mother, Anna, soon moved to the steel town of Aliquippa,
Pennsylvania. It was here at the age of eight that young Henry was first
introduced to music. His father, a former flutist, started him off on
the flute.
At the age of twelve he took up the piano and within a few years became
interested in arranging. A need for instruction and guidance led to Max
Adkins, who was then conductor and arranger for the house orchestra at
the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh.
Soon after graduation from Aliquippa High School in the fall of 1942 he
enrolled at the Juilliard School of Music. His studies were interrupted
by a service draft call in 1943. Upon release from the service in 1945,
Mr. Mancini joined the Glenn Miller/Tex Beneke orchestra as pianist-arranger.
It was here that he met his wife, the former Ginny O'Connor, who was singing
with the band.
They were married in Hollywood in 1947 and now live in the Holmby Hills
section of Los Angeles, with their three children, a boy, Chris, and twin
girls, Monica and Felice.
Private studies continued with Ernst Krenek, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
and Dr. Alfred Sendry.
In 1952, Mr. Mancini joined the music department of Universal-International
Studios. During the next six years he contributed to over one hundred
films, most notable of which were THE GLENN MILLER STORY (for which he
received an Academy Award nomination), THE BENNY GOODMAN STORY, and Orson
Welles' TOUCH OF EVIL.
Soon after leaving Ul, he was engaged by producer/director Blake Edwards
to score the TV series PETER GUNN. His use of the jazz idiom created an
instant success and resulted in a nomination from the TV Academy of Arts
and Sciences for the Emmy Award.
The album MUSIC FROM PETER GUNN was released by RCA Victor and to date
has sold over one million copies. The album was voted two Grammies by
the members of N.A.R.A.S. (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences)
as "Album of the Year" (1958) and "Best Arrangement of
the Year".
The success of "PETER GUNN" was soon repeated by another Edwards-Mancini
collaboration, "MR. LUCKY". The use of lush strings and organ
provided a complete contrast from the driving GUNN music. The album MUSIC
FROM MR. LUCKY joined PETER GUNN as a best-seller. N.A.R.A.S. again honored
Mr. Mancini with two Grammies for "Best Arrangement" and "Best
Performance by an Orchestra". (His album THE BLUES AND THE BEAT was
also awarded a Grammy that year — 1960). Mr. Mancini is now the proud
owner of eleven Grammies. To date, this is a record accomplishment.
His return to motion picture scoring has so far produced the scores to
HIGH TIME, THE GREAT IMPOSTER, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, BACHELOR IN PARADISE,
HATARI, EXPERIMENT IN TERROR, DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, CHARADE, SOLDLER
IN THE RAIN and THE PINK PANTHER.
In 1962 the Motion Picture Academy recognized Mancini's ability by awarding
him two Oscars, one for best original score, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S and
the other for best song, MOON RIVER (lyrics by Johnny Mercer). In 1963
Mancini and Mercer Won another Oscar for their DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES