* En anglais uniquement
Best remembered for his Oscar-winning scores to A Man and a Woman and
Love Story, composer
Francis Lai was born April 26, 1932, in Nice, France. After studying piano as a child, he later discovered jazz, and during the 1950s followed friend and singer Claude Goaty to Paris, eventually settling in Montmartre. At the local Taverne d'Attilio,
Lai met
Bernard Dimey, with whom he collaborated on well over 100 songs; a brief stint in
Michel Magne's orchestra preceded his tenure as accompanist for
Édith Piaf, for whom
Lai composed a number of songs as well. He made his film debut in 1964 with the score to Roger Vadim's remake of Max Ophuls' classic La Ronde, and two years later composed the music for
Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin/Feminin; however, it was his work on Claude Lelouch's 1966 hit A Man and a Woman that elevated
Lai to international renown, and in addition to earning an Academy Award, he notched a perennial easy listening favorite with the picture's Brazilian-inflected title tune. He won a second Oscar for the 1970 Arthur Hiller blockbuster
Love Story, and the film's theme, "Where Do I Begin?," also became a Top 40 hit for
Andy Williams,
Henry Mancini, and even
Lai himself. Although the composer never again reached the same commercial heights, he continued working regularly in the cinema, often in conjunction with director Lelouch, and composed a number of instrumental favorites, including "Today It's You," "Happy New Year," and "Love in the Rain."
Francis Lai died in Nice on November 7, 2018 at the age of 86.