Maurice-Alexis Jarre

Born: 1924
Died: 2009
Education: Conservatoire de Paris
Career: director of the Théâtre National Populaire

Maurice-Alexis Jarre was a French composer and conductor. Although he composed several concert works, he is best known for his film scores, and is particularly known for his collaborations with film director David Lean. Jarre composed the scores to all of Lean's films since Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Other notable scores of his include The Message (1976), Witness (1985) and Ghost (1990). Jarre was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[5] Three of his compositions spent a total of forty-two weeks on the U.K. singles chart chart; the biggest hit was 'Somewhere My Love' (to his tune Lara's Theme, with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster) by the Michael Sammes Singers, which reached number fourteen in 1966 and spent thirty-eight weeks on the chart. Jarre was a three time Academy Award winner, for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984), all of which were directed by David Lean. He was Oscar nominated a total of eight times. His son is the electronic composer Jean Michel Jarre.