Henry Mancini

Henry Mancini was born in Cleveland and raised in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. He studied flute, piano and arranging, spent a period at Juilliard before war service, then wrote and played for the Glenn Miller—Tex Beneke orchestra and served a long apprenticeship in the Universal-International music department. The partnership with the director Blake Edwards produced the Peter Gunn theme, Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's, written with the lyricist Johnny Mercer, and the Pink Panther. His scores also include Days of Wine and Roses, Charade, Two for the Road and Victor/Victoria. Four Academy Awards and twenty Grammys came to him. He died in 1994. The Music from Peter Gunn took the first Grammy given for Album of the Year, a Golden Globe came to him as well, and in 1969 his recording of the Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet spent a fortnight at the top of the American singles chart. A Grammy for lifetime achievement followed in 1995, after his death.