Amy Love

Opinion Editor

aml7458@psu.edu

On October 19, Adam Bricusse, the son of Leslie Bricusse, made an announcement on Facebook regarding his father. In this post, he announced that his father “passed away peacefully.” He did not state the cause of death. Bricusse died at the age of 90 in Saint-Paul-de Vence, France. He was best known for his work in “Willy Wonka and the Charlie Factory,” as well as “James Bond” themes. 

Bricusse’s death was also confirmed by his friend Joan Collins, who was an actress. Collins said on Instagram that he “was one of the giant songwriters of our time.” 

Bricusse was born in 1931 in Pinner, United Kingdom. He received higher education at Cambridge University. This is where he was president of the Footlights performance club, which combined musical and comical talent. He also co-wrote, directed and performed in his first two musicas, “Out of the Blue” and “Lady at the Wheel,” while attending this school. 

In the 1950s, Bricusse began writing music for both the stage and the screen. In his career, he was considered to be a playwright, composer and lyricists. He contributed to these fields for over five decades. 

He wrote his film in 1956 and it was called “Charley Moon.” From there on, he was on his way to success and had his hand in multiple projects. He often collaborated with Anthony Newly. Together, they produced the Academy Award nominated score for 1971 “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” which includes the song “Pure Imagination.”  They also wrote stage musicals in the 1960s; these include: “Stop the World- I want to get off” and “Sherlock Holmes: The Musical.” He also wrote music for “Doctor Doolittle”, which won a best song Oscar in 1968. The song that won was “Talk to the Animals.”

He wrote the lyrics for the Bond theme songs, such as “Goldfinger” and “You Only Live Twice.” The music composition was written by John Barry. Some other films he wrote for include: “Scrooge,” “Hook” and “Superman.” 

He was a five-time Tony nominee for “Stop the World”, which was nominated for the musical, book, and score. He was nominated for the score of “Roar of the Greasepaint” and the book for “Jekyll & Hyde.” Bricusse was nominated for ten Oscars in total, half were for best song and the rest were for best song score. 

In 1989, Bricusse was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. 

Many have given tribute to him on various social media platforms. Elaine Paige, who was also a friend of his, posted on Twitter: “Shock and saddened by the news that the brilliant & wonderful Leslie Brucusse has died. One of our great songwriters. My first ever professional role was in Roar of the Greasepaint musical. We’ve been friends for many years.” 

Andrew Llyod Webber also paid his tribute by releasing a statement saying that Bricusse was “the most underestimated British songwriter of all time.” 

Bricusse was a legendary songwriter who graced the stages and screens with his talents, and will be sadly missed by many.