John Leonard Morris (October 18, 1926 – January 25, 2018) was an American film, television, and Broadwaycomposer, dance arranger, conductor, and trained concert pianist. He collaborated with filmmakers Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder.
Early life
John Morris was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Thomas Morris, an engineer who designed revolving doors for the Tiffany & Co. flagship store in Fifth Avenue, and Helen Sherratt, a homemaker.[1] He became interested in music as early as three years old when he started learning to play the piano and visiting friends in The Bronx with his parents.[1]
From the 1950s through the 1970s, Morris helped to compose incidental music and dance numbers for a number of Broadway productions, including Wildcat (1960), Hot Spot (1963), Baker Street (1965), Dear World (1969), Mack & Mabel (1974), and Hamlet (1975).[3][2] He had written and produced his own musical, A Time for Singing, released in 1966.[2]
Morris worked with Mel Brooks, starting with Brooks' first film The Producers. Prior to this, the two had worked together on two musicals, Shinbone Alley (1957) and All-American (1962).[1] Morris did the original arrangement for Springtime for Hitler and the rest of the film's underscore.[2] Morris continued to work with Brooks on twenty of his films, including Blazing Saddles (for which he received a co-writing credit Oscar nomination with Brooks for the film's theme song), Young Frankenstein (for which he scored its famous "Transylvanian Lullaby"), and The Elephant Man (for which he was nominated for a Grammy and an Oscar for its score).[2] Only two of Brooks' films did not feature Morris' music: Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Dracula: Dead and Loving It were both composed by Hummie Mann. In an interview with Film Score Monthly, Brooks explained that Morris couldn't do the music for Men in Tights or Dead and Loving It due to other commitments.[4]
Morris composed the scores for a number of other films and for several television shows, including the themes for The French Chef and Coach.[2] He won a Daytime Emmy for his score for the TV miniseries The Tap Dance Kid.[2]
Personal life and death
He was married to Francesca Bosetti, and had two children: his son Evan, who died in 2014 and daughter Bronwen. Morris died on January 25, 2018, in his Red Hook, New York, home following complications from a respiratory infection at the age of 91. He was survived by his wife, his daughter, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.[1][2] Brooks said on Morris' death "He was my emotional right arm. Music tells you what to feel and he knew what I wanted you to feel. He composed it and made it happen."[1]
