Talent often runs in families. One artist may inspire relatives to follow in his creative footsteps. This was certainly true of the Newman family, a musical dynasty that shaped cinematic scoring for generations.
Alfred Newman remains the family’s best-known and most honored member. He received 45 of the family’s collective 92 Academy Award nominations in music categories.
As the oldest Newman sibling, Alfred paved the way for his younger brothers to pursue musical careers. The sibling who would most closely follow in his footsteps was the youngest, Lionel Newman.
A Second Prodigy
Like his older brother, Lionel was a musical prodigy. He was born Jan. 4, 1916, 15 years after Alfred. Just as Alfred had toured the vaudeville circuit in his teenage years, Lionel was 15 when he toured nationally as Mae West’s accompanist and conductor.
He joined his older brothers in Los Angeles, but he didn’t get started in the film industry right away. Instead, he continued his musical studies with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, a renowned Italian composer and pianist.
In 1934, 18-year-old Lionel conducted a swing orchestra, Newman’s Society Orchestra, aboard the luxury ocean liner SS Rotterdam of the Holland America Line. Back on land, he began to forge his steady career.
A Start in Pictures
Lionel got his first film assignment when he was commissioned to compose the title song for the Gary Cooper Western “The Cowboy and the Lady” in 1938. He earned an Academy Award nomination for best original song alongside lyricist Arthur Quenzer.
It was his first of 11 Oscar nominations over the next 30 years. Interestingly, this film was produced by United Artists rather than 20th Century Fox, where Alfred served as general music director.
In 1942, Fox hired Lionel as a songwriter and rehearsal pianist. Throughout the 1940s, he alternated between contributing songs and serving as music director on a variety of films.
Although he never considered himself a songwriter, one of his tunes became a hit. He wrote “Again” for the 1948 movie “Road House” with lyricist Dorcas Cochran. It became a popular standard recorded by top artists of the day. Broadcast Music Inc., gave him a certificate of merit after “Again” received more than 1 million network performances.
Lionel was Marilyn Monroe’s favorite film conductor. Both were under contract at Fox in the early 1950s, and they first worked together on her 1952 film “Don’t Bother to Knock.” Afterward, Monroe requested that he work on almost all of her Fox films, except two that were overseen by Alfred. In addition to serving as music director, Lionel composed two songs Monroe sang onscreen in “River of No Return” (1954): the title song and “Down in the Meadow.”
A Music Director
When Alfred retired as general music director, Fox promoted Lionel to music director and then vice president of feature and television music. During the next decade, he oversaw most of the studio’s musical productions, while Alfred continued contributing to important projects on a freelance basis. After Alfred died in 1970, Lionel became Fox’s general director of music.
During his 46-year career at Fox, Lionel composed many film scores. However, he considered raising the Fox orchestra to symphony-orchestra standards his greatest achievement. Under his baton, the orchestra earned a reputation for excellence. An untiring perfectionist, he was remembered for requesting “just one more take” until every detail was just right.
Although a firm leader, Lionel was beloved in the film industry for his boisterous sense of humor. Singer Frank Sinatra called him one of the funniest men in Hollywood.
Rather than focusing on composing film scores himself, Lionel paved the way for other composers to do their best work. He served as music director on some of Fox’s most successful films, including “Cleopatra” (1963) and the original “Star Wars” trilogy.
He mentored younger composers such as Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams, encouraging them and sometimes conducting their scores. Newman retired from Fox in 1985 and died four years later.
A Lasting Legacy
In 2013, the 20th Century Fox Music Department dedicated the Lionel Newman Music Building in his honor. Tributes came from relatives Randy and Joey Newman, as well as colleagues he inspired, including John Williams and Steven Spielberg.
Lionel won his only Academy Award in 1969 for “Hello, Dolly!” sharing the Oscar with Lennie Hayton for best score of a musical picture.
Lionel is not as well known as some other members of the Newman family, but through his composer’s pen, his conductor’s baton, and his caring director’s eye, he helped make 20th Century Fox music the soundtrack for cinematic greatness.
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