LESLIE BRICUSSE

(29 January 1931 - 19 October 2021)

Apart from his work on stage musicals, the British composer, lyricist and playwright Leslie Bricusse, who has died aged 90, was a prominent contributor to the film industry. Born in South London but brought up in Pinner in north-west London, he subsequently went to Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, where he wrote and appeared in musical comedies for the Footlights. He shot to fame with Anthony Newley in their collaboration on Stop the World - I Want To Get Off in 1961 which ran for nearly five hundred performances in London and was successful on Broadway, too. The 1966 film version was poorly received, being just a record of the stage production with no relation to cinematic techniques. With Stop the World and their other stage show, The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd, Bricusse and Newley created some evergreen numbers including 'What Kind of Fool Am I?', 'Who Can I Turn To?', 'Feeling Good', 'Gonna Build a Mountain', 'Once in a Lifetime' and 'A Wonderful Day Like Today' etc which were taken up by many popular singers of the day. Bricusse went on to write other shows with other collaborators including Pickwick, Scrooge, Sherlock Holmes - The Musical, Cyrano and Sammy. However, it may be the songs Bricusse wrote for the cinema that will afford him everlasting fame. With Newley he wrote the title songs for Goldfinger (1964) and You Only Live Twice (1967), both to music by John Barry. He wrote the music and lyrics for 'Talk to the Animals' from Doctor Dolittle (1967) and 'You and I' and 'Fill the World with Love' from Goodbye, Mr Chips (1968). Again with Newley he wrote 'Candy Man' and 'Pure Imagination' from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), 'Can You Read My Mind? from Superman (1978) with John Williams, 'Le Jazz Hot' from Victor/Victoria (1982) with Henry Mancini, and 'Christmas at Hogwarts' from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), again with John Williams, among many other film and TV songs. Bricusse received Academy Awards for Doctor Dolittle and Victor/Victoria and was nominated for many other film songs. He was married to the actress Yvonne Romain and they have a son, Adam. In 2001 he was awarded the OBE for his services to the film industry and the theatre.

MICHAEL DARVELL