The Newman Family in Hollywood

An American dream

By Arlene Stolnitz

Iguess I don’t pay much attention to the credits while watching movies. But this summer, while watching the Abramovits’ streamed lectures from the Stirling Library in Broward County, Florida, I was introduced to the Newman Family. They are a storied “Old Hollywood Family” whose works in musical scores are legendary.

We know of Schmuel Gelbfisz, later known as Samuel Goldwyn, and Harry and Jack Warner, Polish cobbler’s boys who made the “big time” in Hollywood. But I had never heard of this incredible Newman family until I viewed that lecture series this summer on TV.

The most nominated Academy Award extended family, the Newman Family has collected 92 Academy Award nominations in various music categories! The family consists of musicians, composers, music directors and songwriters. Their names: Alfred, Emil, Lionel, Randy, Thomas, Maria (the only female) and grandson, Joey. To list their accomplishments is astounding … cousins Thomas and Randy were nominated in 2020 for an Academy Award for “1917;” Uncle Lionel was nominated for best score for “Hello Dolly;” and Alfred’s youngest son was nominated for 15 Oscars, just to name a few!

Their story begins with the patriarch of the family, Alfred Alan Newman, born in 1901 in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of an immigrant Ukrainian fruit peddler. Alfred was the eldest of seven sons and three daughters. As a piano prodigy, he had a varied career in music. Eventually, he wound up in Hollywood after a prolific career in composing, directing and arranging on Broadway. He was one of the first musicians to work as a composer and conductor during Hollywood’s Golden Age of movies.

Highly respected in the “industry,” he, along with Max Steiner and Dimitri Tiomkin, are known as the “three godfathers of film music.” His career spanned four decades and included over 200 scores he composed for films. His filmography includes names such as “Love is a Many- Splendored Thing,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Anastasia,” “Song of Bernadette,” “The King and I,” and his final score, “Airport.” There are countless others, too many to name here. The list is available on the internet as are the awards received for each film.

Do you remember the fanfare associated with the 20th Century Fox studio logo at the start of each fi lm? Alfred is best known for composing this fanfare. Before working for 20th Century Fox, he also composed fanfares for productions by Samuel Goldwyn and David O. Selznick. (As an interesting aside, I was able to view on YouTube, the 20th Century Fox logo history from 1933 to present, a fascinating 6-minute session. Alfred is credited in the very beginning as the composer of the logo, with others adding to it later.)

Alfred died in 1970 after an epic career, greatly influencing those who came after him.

Currently, the patriarch of the family is Randy, age 78, who has made his mark on the industry as well. In 2007, he was honored by the Walt Disney Company as a Disney Legend. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

I am always looking for how these musicians express themselves Jewishly. I found an interesting clip about Randy which I share with you.

“Newman’s parents were non-observant Jews. Newman is an atheist. He has said that religion or any sense of religious identity was completely absent in his childhood. To illustrate this, he has often recounted in interviews an antisemitic incident that occurred when he was young: he was invited by a classmate to be her date to a cotillion at her Los Angeles country club, the Riviera Country Club. He accepted the invitation but was subsequently disinvited by the girl’s father, who told Newman that his daughter should never have invited him because Jews were not allowed at the club. Newman hung up the phone, then went to ask his own father what a “Jew” was.”

Nonetheless, the Jewish Historical Association of New Haven has honored the Newman Family for their accomplishments in the film industry. Somewhere I recall reading that the old Newman homestead in New Haven is the location today of the JHA of NH.

Arlene Stolnitz, a retired educator, has been a regular contributor to Federation papers in Southwest Florida. Her interest in all kinds of Judaic music has led to this series of articles.