Danny Elfman

Biography

As Danny Elfman was growing up in the Los Angeles area, he was largely unaware of his talent for composing. It wasn't until the early 1970s that Danny and his older brother Richard Elfman started a musical troupe while in Paris; the group "Mystic Knights of Oingo-Boingo" was created for Richard's directorial debut, Forbidden Zone (1980) (now considered a cult classic by Elfman fans).

 The group's name went through many incarnations over the years, beginning with "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo" and eventually just Oingo Boingo. While continuing to compose eclectic, intelligent rock music for his L.A.-based band (some of which had been used in various film soundtracks, e.g. Weird Science (1985)), Danny formed a friendship with young director Tim Burton, who was then a fan of Oingo Boingo.

 Danny went on to score the soundtrack of Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Danny's first orchestral film score. The Elfman-Burton partnership continued (most notably through the hugely successful "Batman" flicks) and opened doors of opportunity for Danny, who has been referred to as "Hollywood's hottest film composer".

Sang all the vocals for the five songs in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). He recorded singing it in different ways and played with the audio to make it sound like various high- and low-pitched vocals.

Learned how to breathe fire as a street performer in Paris after he graduated from high school.

The only two Tim Burton films, Elfman did not compose the score for, are Ed Wood (1994) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007).

Signed a non-exclusive contract with Disney to write, produce, and direct films, while continuing to compose for Disney and other studios.

He was so impressed by Heavenly Creatures (1994) that he offered to do the musical score for the next movie of whoever directed it. That director turned out to be Peter Jackson, and his next movie, The Frighteners (1996), was indeed scored by Elfman.