Dave Grusin

Dave Grusin (born Robert David Grusin; June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, record producer, and jazz pianist renowned for his extensive work in film and television scoring, as well as his pioneering role in jazz fusion recording. Born in Littleton, Colorado, to immigrant parents—a Latvian violinist father and a Jewish pianist mother—Grusin was immersed in music from an early age and graduated as a piano major from the University of Colorado in 1956, later pursuing graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music.

Grusin's career gained prominence in the 1960s as music director and pianist for The Andy Williams Show (1962–1967), where he arranged and performed on hits like "Moon River," and through early film contributions such as additional music for The Graduate (1967). He composed iconic television themes for series including The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1966), Baretta (1975), Maude (1972), and Good Times (1974), before transitioning to major film scores like On Golden Pond (1981), Tootsie (1982), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), and The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score. His filmography encompasses over 100 titles, earning him eight Academy Award nominations, including for The Champ (1979), Heaven Can Wait (1978), and the song "It Might Be You" from Tootsie.

Dave Grusin was born on June 26, 1934, in Littleton, Colorado, to parents of Jewish descent.

His father, Henri Grusin, was a violinist who immigrated from Riga, Latvia, around 1913 and worked as a watchmaker and jeweler in Colorado. Henri, of Jewish ancestry, filled the family home with classical music and ensured his children received musical training from an early age.

Grusin's mother, Rosabelle (née de Poyster), was an American-born pianist also of Jewish ancestry, born in 1909 in Evansville, Indiana, who contributed significantly to the household's musical environment through her performances.