Jerry Goldsmith

Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929 – July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor renowned for his prolific contributions to film and television scoring over more than five decades. Born in Pasadena, California, he composed music for nearly 200 movies and TV shows, blending innovative techniques like electronic instruments and unconventional percussion with traditional orchestration to create emotionally resonant soundtracks. Goldsmith's career highlights include his Academy Award win for Best Original Score for The Omen (1976) and 17 other Oscar nominations, alongside five Primetime Emmy Awards for works such as Star Trek: Voyager and Masada.

Goldsmith began his professional journey in 1950 as a clerk at CBS in Los Angeles, quickly advancing to compose for radio dramas and early television series. After studying composition and theory at the University of Southern California under influential composer Miklós Rózsa, he broke into television with scores for iconic shows like The Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare, Perry Mason, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in the 1950s and 1960s. Transitioning to film in the late 1960s, his breakthrough came with the groundbreaking score for Planet of the Apes (1968), which featured the eerie ondes Martenot instrument and earned him his first Oscar nomination.

Jerrald King Goldsmith was born on February 10, 1929, in Pasadena, California, to Jewish parents of Romanian and Russian descent. His mother, Tessa (née Rappaport), was a schoolteacher who encouraged his musical interests, while his father, Morris Goldsmith, worked as a structural engineer. The family initially lived in a large home in downtown Los Angeles with Goldsmith's maternal grandparents, who were Jewish Romanian immigrants, before moving to the Crenshaw district.