André Previn

A popular and gifted composer and conductor who enjoyed success in multiple mediums, Andre Previn won four Best Music Oscars for "My Fair Lady" (1964), among others, before embarking on a lengthy second career as a conductor for some of the world's most acclaimed symphony orchestras. Born Andreas Ludwig Previn on April 6, 1929, in Berlin, Germany, he was the son of an amateur pianist and showed remarkable aptitude, as well as perfect pitch, before the age of six years old. He was soon enrolled at the Berlin Conservatory, but the rise of the Nazis spurred his family, who were Jewish, to relocate to Paris, France. There, Previn studied at the Paris Conservatory before moving again, this time to the United States, where they settled in New York City and later, Los Angeles, California. There, he became a U.S. citizen in 1943, and supported the family by playing in jazz clubs at an movie houses. He also learned English through comic books and movies, and the latter medium provided Previn with his first entry into professional music. His father's second cousin, Charles Previn, was the music director for Universal Studios, and while Previn was still a student at Beverly Hills High School, he began working as a composer, conductor and arranger for MGM. He earned his first screen credit as composer for "The Sun Comes Up" (1949), a vehicle for canine star Lassie, but after serving in the U.S. Army in 1950, returned to Hollywood, where he worked his way up to composing, conducting and arranging for such prestige pictures as "Gigi" (1958) and "Porgy & Bess" (1959), for which he won his first of four eventual Academy Awards. During this period, Previn also recorded numerous jazz albums, both as performer and arranger, and collaborated with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Shorty Rogers. At the height of his success in Hollywood, with two more Oscars to his name for "Irma la Douce" (1963) and "My Fair Lady" (1964), Previn decided to dream of conducting for orches