Dean Pitchford

Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951 in Honolulu , Hawaii ) is an American stage actor , songwriter and screenwriter .

Life

Pitchford studied after graduating from Yale University and appeared in student theater productions during this time. In 1971 he first appeared off-Broadway . On Broadway he appeared after he was initially only the understudy, from 1975 on in the title role of the musical Pippin . In 1979 he wrote titles with Peter Allen for his one-man show Up In One .

To the music of Michael Gore , he wrote the lyrics for three titles for Alan Parker's musical film Fame - The Path to Fame . The title song of the same name became an international hit for Irene Cara . Pitchford won an Oscar , a Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy nomination for the song , and the soundtrack album received another Grammy nomination. After this success he was signed by Warner Brothers and wrote titles for Kim Carnes and Merle Haggard, among others . With You Should Hear How She Talks About You for Melissa Manchester he had another hit on the Billboard charts. For his collaboration with John Barry for The Legend of the Lonely Ranger , he was nominated in 1982 for the negative award Golden Raspberry .

After his great success as a songwriter, Pitchford turned to a new field of activity. He wrote the script for the dance film Footloose , in which he was also involved in the soundtrack . Both the film and the accompanying album were a great success; the theme song, sung by Kenny Loggins and composed by Pitchford and Tom Snow , reached number 1 on the Billboard charts. Pitchford received two other Grammy and Oscar nominations.

Together with Tom Snow, he wrote the title After All for the feature film A Heavenly Lover in 1989 , a hit for Cher and Peter Cetera . For this he was nominated a fourth time for an Oscar. In collaboration with Martin Gore, Whitney Houston's All the Man That I Need was created , another number 1 on the Billboard charts.

Broadway

• 1975: Pippin (as an actor)
• 1979: Up in One
• 1988: Carrie
• 1988: Footloose
• 2003: The Boy From Oz

Awards

Tony Awards

• 1999: Tony Award nomination in the Best Book of a Musical category for Footloose
• 1999: Tony Award nomination for Best Original Music for Footloose

Academy Awards

• 1981: Oscar in the Best Song for Fame category
• 1985: Oscar nomination for Best Song for Footloose
• 1985: Oscar nomination for Best Song for Let's Hear It for the Boy
• 1990: Oscar nomination for Best Song for After All

Golden Globes

• 1981: Golden Globe Award for Best Movie Song for Fame
• 1985: Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Movie Song for Footloose
• 1990: Golden Globe Award nomination in the category Best Movie Song for After All

Grammy Awards

• 1981: Grammy nomination for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special for Fame
• 1985: Grammy nomination for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special for Footloose
• 1990: Grammy nomination for Best Recording for Children for Oliver & Company

Web links

• Dean Pitchford in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Dean Pitchford in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
• Dean Pitchford in the All Movie Guide (English)
• Dean Pitchford at Allmusic (English)