Enrico Nicola “Henry” Mancini was born on April 16, 1924, in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. Both his parents immigrated to America from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Henry’s love of music came from his father who was a flutist and encouraged his son to take up the instrument when he was eight years old. Four years later, Henry started playing the piano as well.
Mancini enlisted in the United States Army in 1943. While in basic training, he met musicians being recruited by Glenn Miller. After his discharge, Mancini joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and in 1952 began working in the Universal-International Studios music department where he created scores for over 100 films. In 1958, he left Universal and began working as an independent composer. Mancini wrote scores for many different films during his career, including Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Pink Panther series, Charade, Victor/Victoria, and The Glass Menagerie. He also scored music for television shows including Peter Gunn, Late Night with David Letterman, NBC Nightly News, and the theme songs for Newhart and Remington Steele.
Henry married singer Ginny O’Connor in 1946 and the couple had three children together – who all followed their parent’s footsteps and have enjoyed successful musical careers. Henry passed away from pancreatic cancer on June 14, 1994. During his lifetime he was nominated for 72 Grammy Awards (winning 20), 18 Academy Awards (winning 4), two Emmy Awards, and won a Golden Globe. Two of Henry’s songs, “Moon River” and “Days of Wine and Roses,” were ranked #4 and #39, respectively, by the American Film Institute (AFI) on its list of “100 Years…100 Songs.” AFI also ranked his score from The Pink Panther #20 on its list of “100 Years of Film Scores.”
Sources: HENRY MANCINI OFFICIAL WEBSITE, HENRY MANCINI INSTITUTE, GRAMMY AWARDS, AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE, OSIA, Wiki