David Shire
David Shire – American Composer, Film and Television Scorer
David Shire is an American pianist, composer and film and television scorer. He is also a songwriter and a composer of stage musicals.
He met his long-time musical partner Richard Maltby while at Yale University and they have been working together since. They have written five musicals, most of them produced on Broadway.
Composer
Born in Buffalo, New York in 1937, daniel shire is an American composer, filmmaker, musician and actor. He has written musicals and scores for movies. He is also known for his songs.
Shire studied composition as an undergraduate at Yale University where he met his long-time theater collaborator lyricist Richard Maltby Jr. They collaborated on two musicals, Cyrano de Bergerac and Grand Tour which were produced by the Yale Dramatic Association.
He was a Phi Beta Kappa honors student with a double major in English and music. He co-fronted a jazz group at school, the Shire-Fogg Quintet.
Shire’s film music may be light and playful, but his approach is consistent and logical. For instance, in “Farewell My Lovely” he uses a single theme (“Marlowe’s Theme”) to convey a sense of reassurance. In “Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear” he relies on a 4-note motif to assist screen action. In David Fincher’s 2007 thriller Zodiac, he used a similar motif to great effect.
Filmmaker
Daniel Shire is a filmmaker who has worked in many mediums. He is known for his film and television scores. His most notable works include the soundtracks to The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Conversation and All the President’s Men.
He also wrote stage musicals such as Baby, Big and Closer Than Ever. He has won awards for his work and has received nominations for both his musicals and his films.
In addition to his own work, he has collaborated with many filmmakers. His music has been featured in the movies such as All Quiet on the Western Front and Straight Time.
He is currently working on several projects, including a screen adaptation of The Collaboration and a movie called Rich Flu, both which will feature him as a main character. He is also writing a new musical that is set in the 1970s. He is also a father of two children and has had to deal with autism in his son, Daniel.
Musician
Daniel Shire was born in Buffalo, New York to Esther Miriam (nee Sheinberg) and Buffalo society band leader and piano teacher Irving Daniel Shire. He attended Nichols School and Yale University, where he met long-time theater collaborator lyricist/director Richard Maltby Jr.
After a semester of graduate work at Brandeis University, where he was the first Eddie Fisher Fellow, and six months in the National Guard infantry, Shire relocated to New York City to live with Maltby and continue their musical collaborations. Their first off-Broadway show, The Sap of Life, was produced in 1960 at the Sheridan Square Theatre in Greenwich Village.
He has since scored hundreds of films and television episodes, earning five Emmy nominations. His scores include Norma Rae, Francis Coppola’s The Conversation, All the President’s Men, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, Farewell, My Lovely, ‘Night, Mother and Saturday Night Fever for which he won two Grammy Awards. In addition to his film and TV work, he has composed music for several Broadway musicals.
Actor
Shire’s early career included a stint as an accompanist for Barbra Streisand, and he has composed hundreds of scores for both films and television. His scores include The Conversation; Killer Bees; Raid on Entebbe; and Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, to name a few.
Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, he was the son of a society band leader and piano teacher. He studied composition at Yale University where he met his long-time theater collaborator, lyricist/director Richard Maltby, Jr. They have since teamed up on several musicals, including Cyrano and Grand Tour, and have remained working partners ever since.
He started his acting career in a series of TV shows before earning a Best Supporting Actor Emmy nomination for his role as Detective Washington on the drama series Hill Street Blues. Throughout his career, he continued to compose and perform for both stage and screen. He is also a prolific voice actor and has lent his talents to a number of cartoons, including Koko the Clown in a string of hit movies and Phineas J. Whoopee in a few animated shorts.
Watch out for the rest of Time fores for more interesting and useful articles.