Curiosidades

Wrote the wonderfully, haunting melodic theme song for the 1944 movie "Laura". The inspiration for writing this piece of music was after his first wife separated from him.

He had a son, Alex, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times, a daughter, Tina; and three grandchildren.

Raksin started out working with dance bands and arranging music for Broadway shows. He came to Hollywood to work with Charlie Chaplin on the music for "Modern Times". Chaplin hummed and whistled melodies, and Raksin wrote them down and arranged them into the score.

Raskin recorded a commentary track (with film historian Jeanine Basinger) on the DVD of "Laura".

Brother of Ruby Raksin.

Composed the music for five Otto Preminger movies, more than any other composer. However, his relationship with Preminger was frequently combative, even though Preminger often spoke with admiration of Raksin's work.

Raksin played professionally in dance bands while attending Central High School of Philadelphia. He went on to study composition with Harl McDonald at the University of Pennsylvania, and later with Isadore Freed in New York and Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles.

In 2012, he was named for a Lifetime Achievement Award for a Past Film Composer.

At the time of his death, it was announced that Raksin had completed his autobiography, titled If I Say So Myself. The book was eventually published under the title The Bad and the Beautiful: My Life in a Golden Age of Film Music.

Raksin had more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit.