Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman was born in 1953, in Los Angeles, California, where he currently resides. Over the last 20 years, he has established himself as one of Hollywood’s leading film composers. Elfman has written close to 50 film scores featuring his unique sound, including Batman, Spiderman, Men in Black, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. In addition to these signature soundtracks, he has scored such diverse films as Big Fish, Good Will Hunting, Dolores Claiborne, Midnight Run, To Die For, Dead Presidents, Sommersby and Chicago. For television, Elfman created the infectious themes to The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives. His honors include a Grammy, an Emmy and three Academy Award nominations. Elfman’s first experience in performing and composition was for a French theatrical troupe, Le Grand Magic Circus, at the age of 18. The following year, he collaborated with his brother Richard performing musical theatre on the streets of California. Elfman then worked with a “surrealistic musical cabaret” for six years, using this outlet to explore multifarious musical genres. For 17 years he wrote and performed with rock band Oingo Boingo, producing such hits as Weird Science and Dead Man’s Party. In 2005, Elfman worked with longtime collaborator Tim Burton on the films Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the stop-motion animated musical Corpse Bride. Other recent projects include the scores for the Disney CGI animated feature A Day in the Life of Wilbur Robinson and Paramount’s adaptation of Charlotte’s Web. The music for Rabbit and Rogue is his first work for American Ballet Theatre.