Michel Michelet

From Grokipedia

Michel Michelet is a Russian-born American composer known for his prolific contributions to film scores in Hollywood, particularly during the golden age of film noir in the 1940s and 1950s.

Born Mikhail Isaakovich Levin on July 14, 1894, in Kyiv to a Jewish family in the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine), Michelet studied cello and composition in Leipzig with Julius Klengel and Max Reger, and later in Kyiv with Reinhold Glière. He graduated as a professor of music and taught at the Kyiv and Vienna Conservatories before relocating to Paris in 1924, where he adopted the professional name Michel Michelet and began composing for French films starting in 1929.

Fleeing Nazi persecution in 1942, he settled in Los Angeles and quickly established himself in Hollywood, securing a contract with United Artists from 1944 to 1950 and composing scores for dozens of films over his career. His work became synonymous with the atmospheric tension of classic film noir, and he earned two Academy Award nominations. Notable films featuring his music include Voice in the Wind, The Hairy Ape, and Lured.

Michelet also maintained a parallel interest in classical composition, with early works such as his Elegie (1923) drawing on Jewish liturgical melodies and reflecting his Russian-Jewish heritage. He retired from film work at age eighty to devote himself fully to concert music and died in Los Angeles on December 28, 1995, at the age of 101.

In brief

Michel Michelet (June 14, 1893 – December 28, 1995) was a composer of film scores. Born as Mordkhay Khaimovich Levin to a Jewish family in Kyiv (then in the Russian Empire), he moved to Western Europe before settling in France where he became a celebrated composer. He worked on many films during the 1930s following the introduction of sound film.

Following the Nazi invasion of France in 1940, he immigrated to the United States where he continued to work on Hollywood productions including several films noir. Later he provided scores for some European films in the post-war era. He was nominated twice at the 17th Academy Awards for Best Original Score but did not win.