Danny Elfman

Bio

Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American composer, best known as the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Oingo Boingo, from 1976 to 1995 and later for scoring music for television and film and creating The Simpsons main title theme as well as the 1989 Batman movie theme. He has scored the majority of the films for his long-time friend Tim Burton. Born in Los Angeles, he entered the film industry in 1976, initially as an actor. He made his film scoring debut in 1980 for the film Forbidden Zone directed by his older brother Richard Elfman. He has since been nominated for four Academy Awards and won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for Tim Burton's Batman and an Emmy Award for his Desperate Housewives theme. Elfman was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 2002 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music. He is the son of novelist Blossom Elfman and the brother of director Richard Elfman. Elfman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Blossom Elfman (née Bernstein), a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, a community in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. He spent much of his time in the local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman. Stating that he hung out with the "band nerds" in high school, he started a ska band. After dropping out of high school, he followed his brother Richard to France, where he performed with Le Grand Magic Circus, an avant-garde musical theater group. Violin in tow, Elfman next journeyed to Africa where he traveled through Ghana, Mali, and Upper Volta, absorbing new musical styles, including the Ghanaian highlife genre which would eventually influence his own music. Elfman contracted malaria during his one-year stay and was often sick. Eventually he returned home to the United States, where he began to take Balinese music lessons at the CalArts. He was never officially a student at the institute, nonetheless, the instructor encouraged him to continue learning. Elfman stated, "He just laughed, and said, 'Sit. Play.' I continued to sit and play for a couple years." At this time, his brother was forming a new musical theater group, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. The group performed the music for Richard's debut feature film, Forbidden Zone. Danny Elfman composed his first score for the film and played the role of Satan. By the time the movie was completed, they had taken the name Oingo Boingo and begun recording and touring as a rock group. In 1985, Tim Burton and Paul Reubens invited Elfman to write the score for their first feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Elfman was apprehensive at first because of his lack of formal training, but with orchestration assistance from Oingo Boingo guitarist and arranger Steve Bartek, he achieved his goal of emulating the mood of such composers as Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann. In the booklet for the first volume of Music for a Darkened Theatre, Elfman described the first time he heard his music played by a full orchestra as one of the most thrilling experiences of his life.[citation needed] Elfman immediately developed a rapport with Burton and has gone on to score all but two of Burton's major studio releases: Ed Wood, scored by Howard Shore, which was under production while Elfman and Burton were having a fight, and Sweeney Todd, an adaptation of the 1979 Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical. He also, more recently, accompanied Tim Burton in the composition of music for "Almost Alice", the soundtrack for Alice in Wonderland. Burton has said of his relationship with Elfman: "We don't even have to talk about the music. We don't even have to intellectualize – which is good for both of us, we're both similar that way. We're very lucky to connect" (Breskin, 1997). Elfman has three children: Lola, born in 1979; Mali, born in 1984; and Oliver, born in 2005. On November 29, 2003, Elfman married film actress Bridget Fonda. In 1997 he scored A Simple Plan – his only score for one of her films to date (although he did compose a cue for the film Army of Darkness, in which Fonda has a cameo). He is the uncle of actor Bodhi Elfman who is married to actress Jenna Elfman, known most notably in her role as Dharma in the TV series Dharma and Greg. . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Similar artists

Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Alan Silvestri, Patrick Stewart, Catherine O'Hara

Genres

Soundtrack,instrumental,Classical,composer,Soundtracks,orchestral soundtrack,soundtrack,american,singer,game,video game,score,lyricist,film score,vgm,film soundtrack,film composer,soundtracks,modern classical,united states,show tunes,television music,2008 universal fire victim,

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Infos

On Tour: No

country: US

City: Los Angeles

Begin Date: 1953-05-29

Last Update:

Artist next concerts

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Song Kick

Sick New World 2026

Las Vegas - Las Vegas Festival Grounds

25/Apr

2026

Videography

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Artist discography

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Last FM

The Nightmare Before Christmas - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The Nightmare Before Christmas - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Nov/2020

Darkman (30th Anniversary Expanded Edition)

Darkman (30th Anniversary Expanded Edition)

Jan/2020

Dolittle (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Dolittle (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Jan/2020

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Epic Tribute - Single

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Epic Tribute - Single

Jan/2021

Scrooged (Original Motion Picture Score)

Scrooged (Original Motion Picture Score)

Nov/2019

Дамбо (Оригинальный саундтрек)

Дамбо (Оригинальный саундтрек)

Mar/2019

Dumbo (Banda Sonora Original)

Dumbo (Banda Sonora Original)

Mar/2019

Dumbo

Mar/2019

Dumbo (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Dumbo (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Mar/2019

Violin Concerto "Eleven Eleven" and Piano Quartet

Violin Concerto "Eleven Eleven" and Piano Quartet

Mar/2019

Violin Concerto "Eleven Eleven"

Violin Concerto "Eleven Eleven"

Jan/2019

Batman

Nov/2018

Dr Seuss' The Grinch

Dr Seuss' The Grinch

Nov/2018

Dr. Seuss' the Grinch (Original Motion Picture Score)

Dr. Seuss' the Grinch (Original Motion Picture Score)

Nov/2018

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Jul/2018

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot

Jul/2018

Phone Call

Jun/2018

Fifty Shades Freed: Original Motion Picture Score

Fifty Shades Freed: Original Motion Picture Score

Feb/2018

Fifty Shades Freed (Original Motion Picture Score)

Fifty Shades Freed (Original Motion Picture Score)

Feb/2018

Justice League Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Justice League Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Dec/2017

I. Triangle

Apr/2024

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack / Deluxe Edition) [Explicit]

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack / Deluxe Edition) [Explicit]

Feb/2024

The Frighteners (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The Frighteners (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Dec/2023

Summer School

Apr/2023

Spider-Man (20th Anniversary Motion Picture Score)

Spider-Man (20th Anniversary Motion Picture Score)

Nov/2022

Spider‐Man (20th Anniversary Motion Picture Score)

Spider‐Man (20th Anniversary Motion Picture Score)

Nov/2022

Spider-Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [20th Anniversary]

Spider-Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [20th Anniversary]

Nov/2022

Wednesday (Original Series Soundtrack)

Wednesday (Original Series Soundtrack)

Nov/2022

White Noise (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)

White Noise (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)

Nov/2022

Bigger. Messier. (Deluxe.)

Bigger. Messier. (Deluxe.)

Nov/2022

White Noise: Soundtrack from the Netflix Film

White Noise: Soundtrack from the Netflix Film

Nov/2022

Bigger. Messier.

Bigger. Messier.

Aug/2022

Dark Shadows (Original Score)

Dark Shadows (Original Score)

Jun/2022

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

May/2022

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

May/2022

The Nightmare Before Christmas (Piano Themes)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (Piano Themes)

May/2022

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (Original Motion Picture Score)

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (Original Motion Picture Score)

May/2022

Sorry (Kid606 Remix) - Single

Sorry (Kid606 Remix) - Single

Nov/2021

Sorry (Kid606 Remix)

Sorry (Kid606 Remix)

Nov/2021

Songs From Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

Songs From Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

Nov/2021

Percussion Concerto & Wunderkammer

Percussion Concerto & Wunderkammer

May/2024

Hellboy II (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (The Deluxe Edition) [Explicit]

Hellboy II (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (The Deluxe Edition) [Explicit]

May/2024

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Score from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Score from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Oct/2024

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Score from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Score from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Oct/2024

Monkeys on the Loose (Halloween Special) [Explicit]

Monkeys on the Loose (Halloween Special) [Explicit]

Oct/2024

Monkeys on the Loose (Halloween Special) - Single

Monkeys on the Loose (Halloween Special) - Single

Oct/2024

Dark Universe

Dark Universe

Mar/2025

Spider-Man 2 (20th Anniversary Motion Picture Score)

Spider-Man 2 (20th Anniversary Motion Picture Score)

Nov/2024

Nightbreed (Original Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Nightbreed (Original Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Apr/2024

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack / Deluxe Edition)

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack / Deluxe Edition)

Feb/2024

Good Will Hunting (Music From the Original Motion Picture Score)

Good Will Hunting (Music From the Original Motion Picture Score)

Aug/2025

Dracula: Original Motion Picture Score

Dracula: Original Motion Picture Score

Jul/2025

Dracula (Original Motion Picture Score)

Dracula (Original Motion Picture Score)

Jul/2025

Bullet Time

Jul/2025

Bullet Time (Original Animated Series Soundtrack)

Bullet Time (Original Animated Series Soundtrack)

Jul/2025

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