Addison, John, 1920-1998

John Mervyn Addison was born on March 16, 1920, in Chobham, England.

He was a British composer best known for his film scores. He studied at the Royal College of Music (1936-1939). In 1939, he served with the British XXX Corps in the 23rd Hussars during the World War II. In 1945, he returned to London to teach composition at the Royal College of Music. Addison is best known for his film scores. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Score and a Grammy Award in the Best Original Score from a Motion Picture or Television Show category for the music to the 1963 film Tom Jones. He also won a BAFTA Award for A Bridge Too Far (1977). His other film scores included A Taste of Honey (1961), Smashing Time (1967), The Honey Pot (1967), Sleuth (1972), Swashbuckler (1976) and the television series Centennial (1978). He composed the theme music for the television series Murder, She Wrote and won an Emmy for the 2-hour pilot episode in the Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (dramatic underscore) category. In 1990, he retired to Bennington, Vermont, where he returned to writing music for chamber orchestra and symphony. His "Bassoon Concertina" was first performed by the Halle Orchestra in Manchester, England, in the summer of 1998. Addison's collection of correspondence, scores, and studio recordings was donated to the Film Music Archives at Brigham Young University in 1994.

He died on December 7, 1998, in Bennington, Vermont.