Born in Vienna, Austria. A descendant of a long line of concert hall musicians, he was a child prodigy and began composing at five. In 1938, after the German takeover of Austria, he emigrated to the US and began composing both pop and concert hall music. In Hollywood since the mid-1940s, he began scoring major films in the late 50s and won an Academy Award for the music from EXODUS (1960). Other notable unnominated scoring credits include THE DEFIANT ONES (1958), THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS (1959), INHERIT THE WIND (1960), songs for JUDGMENT AT NUREMBURG (1961), SHIP OF FOOLS (1965), THE PROJECTIONIST (1971), FUN WITH DICK AND JANE and CROSS OF IRON (both 1977), THE RUNNER STUMBLES (1979), TOM HORN (1980), SAFARI 3000 (1982) and the theme song for TV's "Mad About You."  Nominated for Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) 1959: ON THE BEACH  Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) 1960: EXODUS  Nominated for Music Scoring Awards (Music Score Substantially Original) 1963: IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD  Nominated for Music Best Song 1963: IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" - Music  Nominated for Music Scoring Awards (Best Original Score for a Motion Picture not a Musical) 1969: THE SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIA 5 nominations, 1 Award