- Born
- Died
- Birth nameAndreas Ludwig Priwin
- Height5′ 7¼″ (1.71 m)
- German-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor André George Previn (born Andreas Ludwig Priwin, in Berlin) was for eight decades a hugely influential and prolific figure in jazz, as well as classical and film music. Being Jewish, Previn's family was forced to leave Hitler's Germany in 1939. Hollywood naturally beckoned, since André's grand uncle (Charles Previn) was already well established as musical director at Universal (1936-42). Child prodigy André recorded his first piano jazz album at the age of sixteen while continuing studies at Beverly Hills High School.
He joined MGM at age 17 in 1946 (initially as an uncredited music supervisor/arranger), later as orchestra conductor and still later as a composer of film scores. He remained under contract at the studio until 1960. During his tenure in Hollywood, he was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, winning four (all for Best Adapted Score: Gigi (1958), Porgy and Bess (1959), Irma la Douce (1963), and My Fair Lady (1964)). In the 1950s, he recorded several acclaimed jazz albums with drummer Shelly Manne and pianist Russ Freeman, featuring excellent tracks like "Who's on First" and "Strike Out the Band". He began conducting with the St. Louis Symphony in 1961 while still working primarily as a jazz and studio musician. Much of his recorded work consisted of show tunes adapted for jazz. Gradually, his interest in classical music won out.
By the late 1960s, Previn had settled in England and in 1968 was made principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, a position he occupied for eleven years. His popularity led to cameo TV appearances (including a famous sketch for the 1971 Christmas special of the The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968), in which he appeared as "Mr. Andrew Preview") and television advertising (Vauxhall, Ferguson TX portable television etc.). From 1985 to 1989, he was musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic as well as with the Royal Philharmonic (1985-88, subsequently also principal conductor, from 1988-91).
In 1993, he was appointed conductor laureate of the London Symphony and three years later was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to music. He won 10 Grammy Awards (including two for jazz and two for film music) and was nominated for six Emmys. Previn latterly returned to recording jazz albums with, among others, Ella Fitzgerald (1983), Joe Pass & Ray Brown (1989), and Kiri Te Kanawa (1992). Two excellent tribute albums released, respectively in 1998 and 2000 for Deutsche Grammophon, were 'We Got Rhythm: A Gershwin Songbook' and 'We Got it Good: An Ellington Songbook'.
Married (and divorced) five times, his ex-wives included Dory Previn and Mia Farrow. Previn died in New York on February 28, 2019, aged 89.- IMDb Mini Biography By: I.S.Mowis
- SpousesAnne-Sophie Mutter(August 1, 2002 - May 18, 2006) (divorced)Heather Mary Sneddon(January 3, 1982 - January 25, 1999) (divorced, 2 children)Mia Farrow(September 10, 1970 - January 31, 1979) (divorced, 6 children)Dory Previn(November 7, 1959 - July 27, 1970) (divorced)Betty Bennett(August 24, 1952 - September 27, 1957) (divorced, 2 children)
- Children
- Divorce from Dory Previn dragged on for two years after he started dating Farrow in 1968.
- Father of 10 children. Two daughters with Betty Bennett, Claudia Previn (born June 24, 1954) and Alicia Previn (born February 11, 1957). He and Mia Farrow had three sons, fraternal twins Matthew and Sascha (born February 26, 1970) and Fletcher Previn (born March 14, 1974), and adopted three daughters, Soon-Yi Previn (born October 8, 1970), Lark Previn (February 15, 1973 - December 25, 2008) and Daisy Previn (born October 6, 1974). His son with Heather Hales, Lukas Previn, was born on October 28, 1983. He adopted Heather's daughter from a previous marriage, Li-An Mary (born January 12, 1974).
- Father-in-law of Woody Allen. He is married to Previn's daughter Soon-Yi Previn. Allen was also in a long-term relationship with Previn's ex-wife Mia Farrow.
- Appeared as a willing stooge on The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968) where he was called Andrew Preview.
- He was made an honorary Knight of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1996 for his services to music.
- [on film studio orchestras] It has often been remarked that the sight-reading ability of these orchestras was legendary, and I have to add my voice to that existing chorus. These players were genuinely amazing. They would show up each morning, utterly unaware of what it was they were expected to record that day. It could have been a score by Alex North or Bernard Herrmann, or David Raksin or Miklos Rozsa, or just as easily a Tom and Jerry cartoon or a dance number for Fred Astaire. They would casually glance at the parts on their stands, the ink still wet, and would proceed to play with the same expert disdain a professional parking lot attendant uses to back a new convertible into a tight space.
- The 1990 teenagers feel that they have coined both the term 'cool' and the mannerisms that illustrate the word, but they are in fact a good thirty-five years too late to claim that invention.
- I found that jazz musicians, possibly more than their classical counterparts, wear long-standing friendships easily and gracefully. Their friendships are not governed by advancement through social contact, and tend to be governed by a very simple rule: If they like the way you play,and if they believe you to be a nice fellow, then fine. If one of those elements is badly missing, forget it.
- [on working for MGM] I loved the studio. I loved the way it smelled, I was crazy about Indians in the lunchroom, and Romans making phone calls, and the highly charged and technically dazzling music making on the recording stage. Most of all I loved being a part of it, a part of a peculiar fraternity, belittled and superior at the same time, envied for all the wrong reasons and commiserated with for the stuff we all took in our stride.
- [on scoring movies] When I composed, I heard my music played by the orchestra within days of completion of the score. No master at a conservatory, no matter how revered, can teach as much by verbal criticism as can a cold and analytical hearing of one's own music being played. I would mentally tick the results as they came at me: that was pretty good, you can use that device again, that was awful, too thick, that mixture makes the woodwinds disappear, that's a good balance, and so on.
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