Michel Legrand

About

Michel Legrand (1932-2019) was a French composer, conductor, jazz pianist and arranger who scored more than 200 films and television productions over six decades. Trained at the Paris Conservatory under Nadia Boulanger, he shaped the sound of the French New Wave through his work with directors Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Demy - most memorably on Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964). He won three Academy Awards, five Grammys and two prizes at Cannes, and his final score, for Orson Welles' long-unfinished The Other Side of the Wind, was released on Netflix in 2018, just months before his death.

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200+

film and TV scores composed

Academy Awards won

Grammy Awards won

What's new

2026-10
A tribute concert, 'David Marino Sings Michel Legrand', is scheduled at Place des Arts in Montreal in October 2026, covering his repertoire from chanson to film themes.
2018-11
Legrand's score for Orson Welles' long-unfinished film The Other Side of the Wind was released on Netflix in November 2018 - his final major work, completed just months before his death.
2019-01
Michel Legrand died on 26 January 2019 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, at the age of 86.

Tracks

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (soundtrack)1964 Jacques Demy film score, fully sung-through; earned Legrand his first Oscar nominations and international fame

The Windmills of Your MindOscar-winning song from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), one of the most covered film songs of its era

Legrand Jazzlandmark 1958 jazz album featuring Miles Davis, Bill Evans and John Coltrane

I Will Wait for Youtheme from Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, Oscar-nominated and widely recorded by jazz musicians

Yentl (soundtrack)1983 Barbra Streisand film; won Legrand his third Academy Award for Best Original Score