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Leslie Bricusse

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Songwriter

The Resume

    (January 29, 1931-October 19, 2021)
    Born in London, United Kingdom
    Collaborated with Anthony Newley on the musicals ‘Stop the World – I Want to Get Off’ (1961) and ‘The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowds’ (1965)
    Wrote songs for the films ‘Doctor Doolittle’ (1967), ‘Scrooge’ (1970), ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ (1971), ‘Victor/Victoria’ (1982), and ‘Hook’ (1991)
    Was also the screenwriter for ‘Doctor Doolittle’
    Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1989)
    Named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (2001)

Why he might be annoying:

    As screenwriter of ‘Doctor Doolittle,’ he lifted a plot point (about the animals in England going on strike to support the Doctor) from an earlier rejected script, having erroneously assumed the idea came from one of Hugh Lofting’s stories, which 20th Century Fox had the rights to. The earlier write, Helen Winston, sued the studio for $4.5 million, eventually receiving an out of court settlement.
    He was nominated for Tony Awards five times without winning.
    He listed Petr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as one of his musical ‘collaborators’ (based on interpolating the Nutcracker Suite into one of his scores).
    His ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Musical’ (1989) got lousy reviews and closed in three months (not helped by a London subway strike).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was president of the Footlights Revue at Cambridge.
    He won a Grammy for Song of the Year (‘What Kind of Fool Am I,’ 1963) and an Oscar for Best Original Song (‘Talk to the Animals,’ 1967).
    He co-wrote two James Bond themes, ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘You Only Live Twice.’
    He has been married to actress Yvonne Romain for over sixty years.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 61 Votes: 70.49% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying