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Mancini's earliest recordings in the 1950s and early 1960s were of the jazz idiom; with the success of Peter Gunn, Mr. Lucky, and Breakfast at Tiffany's, Mancini shifted to recording primarily his own music in record albums and film soundtracks.
Late in 1942, Henry Mancini entered Juilliard School of Music on scholarship, hoping to study orchestration and composition. However, those two subjects were not scheduled till the second year and so he spent the first majoring in piano.
In 1952 Mancini joined the Universal-International Studios music department. During the next six years he contributed to over 100 films, most notably The Glenn Miller Story (for which he received his first Academy Award® nomination), The Benny Goodman Story and Orson Welles' Touch of Evil.
After high school, Henry joined the Carnegie Institute of Technology to study music, which he left in 1942 to join the Julliard School of Music. His time there was also ended prematurely when he joined the military in World War II.
Henry Mancini was one of the most versatile talents in contemporary music. The Mancini name is synonymous with great motion picture and television music, fine recordings, and international concert performances. During his lifetime Mancini was nominated for 72 Grammy Awards, winning 20.
Winner of 20 Grammys and four Oscars, Henry Mancini was one of the most popular figures in music for decades. As a composer, arranger and conductor he was truly versatile, as at home on the concert podium as he was in the recording studio.
Mancini was part of the so-called “Music Factory,” providing music for Universal Studios. His name was beginning to enjoy some recognition as an up-and-coming composer. However, Universal Studio was in trouble, and an uninvited takeover forced them to sack its entire music staff.
