John Beal (composer) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

John Beal is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Film score

A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...

composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

working in Hollywood, California

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...

, and is notable for composing the music for numerous hit television series, such as Vega$

Vega$

Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series, was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas...

and Eight is Enough

Eight Is Enough

Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series which ran on ABC from March 15, 1977 until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled after syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book with the same name...

, as an orchestral conductor, composer of movie trailer

Trailer (film)

A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...

music, and for his work with the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra

Hollywood Symphony Orchestra

The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra a is 75-member American symphony orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. Its artistic director and resident conductor is John Scott...

Early life

John Beal was born in Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

, raised in La Cañada Flintridge, California

La Cañada Flintridge, California

La Cañada Flintridge is a small and affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States whose population at the 2010 census was 20,246, down from 20,318 at the 2000 census. According to Forbes, as of 2010, La Cañada Flintridge ranks as the 143rd most expensive U.S...

, graduated from John Muir High School (Pasadena, California)

John Muir High School (Pasadena, California)

John Muir High School is a four-year comprehensive secondary school in Pasadena, California, United States and is a part of the Pasadena Unified School District. The school is named after preservationist John Muir.-History:...

, where he was honored for having written many of the drum cadences for the school's internationally renowned Drum Corps, which are still used more than 40 years after his graduation. He was named to their Hall of Fame in 2008. He attended San Diego State University

San Diego State University

San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...

and, after serving in the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

, attended UCLA

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

. He studied percussion with William Kraft

William Kraft

William Kraft is a composer, conductor, teacher, and percussionist.-Undergrad and Graduate School Years :...

and Bernie Mattinson, and drums with Irv Cotler (drummer for Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

), composition with Harry Partch

Harry Partch

Harry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...

scholar Danlee Mitchell, synthesizers with Clark Spangler, and film scoring with Dominic Frontiere

Dominic Frontiere

Dominic Frontiere is an American composer, arranger, and jazz accordionist. He is known for composing the theme and much of the music for the first season of the television series The Outer Limits.-Early years:...

, George Duning

George Duning

George Duning was an American musician and film composer. He was born in Richmond, Indiana and educated in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where his mentor was Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco....

, Buddy Baker

Buddy Baker

Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...

, Fred Werner, Eddy Lawrence Manson and Earle Hagen

Earle Hagen

Earle Harry Hagen was an American composer who created music for movies and television. He is remembered for co-writing and whistling "The Fishin' Hole", the melody of the main theme to The Andy Griffith Show, the instrumental classic "Harlem Nocturne" used as the theme to television's Mickey...

. In his early film career, and like many of the young composers of the day, he ghost wrote the scores for numerous major motion pictures and hit television shows and orchestrated and supervised the recording sessions for many others.

Career

Beal's first instrument was piano at age 6. He was a professional soloist in a boys choir at age 8 and a professional drummer on stage and in the recording studio by age 10. After his highly decorated service with the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

, he returned to Hollywood as a musical director and arranger with recording stars Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...

(in her U.S. debut), B. B. King

B. B. King

Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...

, Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight

Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...

, Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis

John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...

, and for many television variety shows ranging from Ed Sullivan

Ed Sullivan

Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...

to The Carpenters

The Carpenters

Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...

Make Your Own Kind of Music

Make Your Own Kind of Music (TV series)

Make Your Own Kind Of Music is an American television series starring The Carpenters that aired on NBC from July 20, 1971 to September 7, 1971. Some guest stars were Don Knotts, Herb Alpert, Al Hirt, Mark Lindsay, Patchett & Tarses, and the Doodletown Pipers.The key concept of the series is that...

, The Captain & Tennille Songbook and John Wayne

John Wayne

Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...

's Emmy Award

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

-winning Sing Out Sweet Land, to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....

. Beal was also the conductor and arranger for the vocal groups The Establishment, The Kids Next Door, The Nabors Kids, The King Cousins, and The Doodletown Pipers, and worked on stage in Las Vegas and on the showroom circuit with such icons of the day as Phyllis Diller

Phyllis Diller

Phyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...

, Perry Como

Perry Como

Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...

, Raquel Welch

Raquel Welch

Jo Raquel Tejada , better known as Raquel Welch, is an American actress, author and sex symbol. Welch came to attention as a "new-star" on the 20th Century-Fox lot in the mid-1960s. She posed iconically in a animal skin bikini for the British-release One Million Years B.C. , for which she may be...

, Mitzi Gaynor

Mitzi Gaynor

-Life and career:Gaynor was born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago, Illinois to Pauline Fisher, a dancer, and Henry von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director. The family first moved to Detroit and when she was eleven to Hollywood, California.She trained as a ballerina...

, Leslie Uggams

Leslie Uggams

Leslie Uggams is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her work in Hallelujah, Baby! She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.-Singing:...

, Jim Nabors

Jim Nabors

James Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing...

, Sally Struthers

Sally Struthers

Sally Ann Struthers is an American actress and spokeswoman, best-known for her roles as Gloria Stivic on All in the Family, for which she won two Emmy awards, and as Babette on Gilmore Girls.-Personal life:...

, Peggy Fleming

Peggy Fleming

Peggy Gail Fleming is an American figure skater. She is the 1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies' singles and a three-time World Champion...

, Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...

, and Ed Ames

Ed Ames

Ed Ames is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his pop and adult contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He was part of a popular 1950s singing group called The Ames Brothers.-Early life:Born in Malden,...

.

Beginning in the late 1970s, he composed original music for numerous hit television series, including Vega$

Vega$

with Robert Urich

Robert Urich

Robert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...

, Eight is Enough

Eight Is Enough

with Dick Van Patten

Dick Van Patten

Richard Vincent "Dick" Van Patten is an American actor, best known for his role as patriarch Tom Bradford on the television sitcom Eight is Enough. He began work as a child actor and was successful on the [New York] stage, appearing in more than a dozen plays as a teenager...

and Betty Buckley

Betty Buckley

Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...

, Happy Days

Happy Days

Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....

with Ron Howard

Ron Howard

Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...

and Henry Winkler

Henry Winkler

Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...

, Laverne & Shirley

Laverne & Shirley

Laverne & Shirley is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from January 26, 1976, to May 10, 1983...

with Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall is an American actress, producer and director.After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley...

and Cindy Williams

Cindy Williams

Cynthia Jane "Cindy" Williams is an American actress best known for starring in the television situation-comedy series Laverne & Shirley, in the role of "Shirley Feeney", and for her role as Laurie Henderson in the classic film American Graffiti.-Early life:Williams was born in Van Nuys,...

, Goodtime Girls

Goodtime Girls

Goodtime Girls was a short-lived situation comedy produced by Garry Marshall and his associates, Thomas L. Miller, Edward K. Milkis, and Robert L. Boyett, which ran on ABC from January 22, 1980 to August 29, 1980...

with Annie Potts

Annie Potts

Anne Hampton "Annie" Potts is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles in the 1980s popular films such as Ghostbusters , Pretty in Pink , Jumpin' Jack Flash , Who's Harry Crumb? and Ghostbusters II . Potts is also known as a voice-actress...

and Georgia Engel, Legmen with Bruce Greenwood

Bruce Greenwood

Bruce Greenwood is a Canadian actor and musician. He is generally known for his roles as U.S. presidents in Thirteen Days and National Treasure: Book of Secrets and for his role as Captain Christopher Pike in the 2009 Star Trek film...

and John Terlesky, and Chicago Story with Dennis Franz

Dennis Franz

Dennis Franz is an American actor best known for his role as Andy Sipowicz, a hard-boiled police detective in the television series NYPD Blue. He previously appeared as Lt...

and Craig T. Nelson

Craig T. Nelson

Craig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...

. His first feature films included Zero to Sixty

Zero to Sixty

Zero to Sixty is a 1978 American comedy film directed by Don Weis. The film never received a theatrical release, but it was later reviewed by TV Guide, which called McGavin "fun to watch" in the film but noted the premise was brought to the screen six years later in a different film, Repo...

starring Darren McGavin

Darren McGavin

Darren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...

and Joan Collins

Joan Collins

Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...

, The Funhouse

The Funhouse

The Funhouse is a 1981 horror film in which four teenagers are trapped in a dark ride and stalked by a deformed killer. The film was directed by Tobe Hooper, and the screenplay written by Larry Block...

from director Tobe Hooper

Tobe Hooper

Tobe Hooper is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in the horror film genre. His works include the cult classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , along with its first sequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 ; the three-time Emmy-nominated Stephen King film adaptation...

, Terror in the Aisles

Terror in the Aisles

Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 documentary film about horror films featuring clips from Friday the 13th I and/or II, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween I and II, Jaws 1 and 2, Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Shining and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and The Birds. The film is hosted by...

starring Donald Pleasence

Donald Pleasence

Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...

and Nancy Allen

Nancy Allen (actress)

Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...

, and The Man with Bogart's Face

The Man with Bogart's Face

The Man with Bogart's Face is a 1980 comedy film, released by 20th Century Fox and based on a novel of the same name. Andrew J...

starring Robert Sacchi

Robert Sacchi

Robert Sacchi is an American character actor who, since the 1970s, has been known for his close resemblance to Humphrey Bogart. Sacchi has appeared in many films and TV shows playing either Bogart or a character who happens to look and sound like him...

, Franco Nero

Franco Nero

Franco Nero is an Italian actor.-Early life:Nero was born Francesco Sparanero in San Prospero Parmense , the son of a sergeant in the...

, Michelle Phillips

Michelle Phillips

Michelle Phillips is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She gained fame as a member of the 1960s group The Mamas & the Papas, and is the last surviving original member of the group.-Early life:...

and Olivia Hussey

Olivia Hussey

Olivia Hussey is an Argentinian actress who became famous for her role as Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Academy Award-winning 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet. For this role she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actress as well as the David di Donatello for best actress...

.

At the suggestion of Gary LeMel (President, Worldwide Music for Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

), Beal was tapped by Hollywood's marketing guru and "Godfather of Trailers," Andrew J. Kuehn

Andrew J. Kuehn

Andrew J. Kuehn September 24, 1937 - January 29, 2004, is notable for revolutionizing the American film trailer in the early 1960s and for producing and directing featurette films for television like Lights, Camera, Annie! Getting in Shape for the "Main Event", Behind the Scenes: Beyond the...

of Kaleidoscope Films (Jaws

Jaws (film)

Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...

and other major hit films) to work with him in the movie trailer

Trailer (film)

industry. Kuehn and Beal collaborated on the very inception of today's modern movie trailer

Trailer (film)

format and Beal has long been recognized as the man who gave contemporary trailers their musical voice. Beal has written music for over 2,000 trailers. His list of major studio credits includes campaigns for such hit films as JFK

JFK (film)

JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison .Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay...

, Titanic

Titanic (1997 film)

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...

, The Matrix

The Matrix

The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...

, Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...

, The Last Samurai

The Last Samurai

The Last Samurai is a 2003 American epic drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay based on a story by John Logan. The film was inspired by a project developed by writer and director Vincent Ward, who had previously filmed the movie in 1990, starring...

, Aladdin, the Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

trilogy, The Hunt for Red October

The Hunt for Red October (film)

The Hunt for Red October is a 1990 thriller film based on the novel of the same name by Tom Clancy. It was directed by John McTiernan and stars Sean Connery as Captain Marko Ramius and Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan...

, True Lies

True Lies

True Lies is a 1994 American action-comedy film directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik. Eliza Dushku also appears in the film in one of her first major film roles...

, In the Line of Fire

In the Line of Fire

In the Line of Fire is a 1993 American thriller film about a disillusioned and obsessed former CIA agent who attempts to assassinate the President of the United States and the Secret Service agent who tracks him...

, Patriot Games

Patriot Games (film)

Patriot Games is a 1992 film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Tom Clancy's the novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October. In the movie, Jack Ryan is played by Harrison Ford, Jack's surgeon-wife, Dr...

, The Mask of Zorro

The Mask of Zorro

The Mask of Zorro is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the Zorro character created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Stuart Wilson...

, Black Rain, Ghost

Ghost (film)

Ghost is a 1990 romantic drama film starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. It was written by Bruce Joel Rubin and directed by Jerry Zucker.-Plot:...

, Finding Neverland

Finding Neverland

Finding Neverland is a 2004 semi-biographical film about playwright J. M. Barrie and his relationship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan, directed by Marc Forster. The screenplay by David Magee is based on the play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee...

, and hundreds more. Daily Variety box office results show the financial success of film campaigns to which he contributed original music is literally measured in hundreds of billions of dollars.

Other projects

Working with one of his mentors, Buddy Baker

Buddy Baker

Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...

, and the Walt Disney Imagineering Team led by Marc Davis, John Beal composed and arranged music for the Carousel of Progress

Carousel of Progress

The Carousel of Progress is an attraction located at the Magic Kingdom Park at the Walt Disney World Resort, currently operating under the name Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress...

and America Sings

America Sings

America Sings was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California from 1974 to 1988. It featured a cast of Audio-Animatronic animals that entertained the audience by singing songs from various periods in America's musical history, often in a humorous fashion....

rides at Disneyland

Disneyland Park (Anaheim)

Disneyland Park is a theme park located in Anaheim, California, owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of the Walt Disney Company. Known as Disneyland when it opened on July 18, 1955, and still almost universally referred to by that name, it is the only theme park to be...

and Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World Resort

Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...

(Orlando),. He was also the music director for live stage acts during the opening of Walt Disney World in Florida and the musical conductor for the park's grand opening ceremony television presentation on NBC. According to his official bio, Beal composed original music for Gentle Jungle and Enchanted Village theme parks. Beal also composed and produced the music for commercials from Apple, NASDAQ

NASDAQ

The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...

, Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's is an American ice cream company, a division of the British-Dutch Unilever conglomerate, that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and ice cream novelty products, manufactured by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc., headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, United...

, AMGEN

Amgen

Amgen Inc. is an international biotechnology company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. Located in the Conejo Valley, Amgen is the world's largest independent biotech firm. The company employs approximately 17,000 staff members. Its products include Epogen, Aranesp, Enbrel, Kineret,...

, Dr. Pepper and many other major advertisers.

John Beal served as the General Manager and Producer of the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra

Hollywood Symphony Orchestra

The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra a is 75-member American symphony orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. Its artistic director and resident conductor is John Scott...

for its debut concerts in the Los Angeles area, and as its television producer. Beal is President of Reeltime Creative, a company that consults for and produces motion picture creative advertising ranging from movie trailers to posters to web sites.

Select movie trailers

Some of the well-known movie trailers for which John Beal wrote original scores between 1977 and 2007 cover a wide range of styles: Titanic

Titanic (1997 film)

, We Were Soldiers

We Were Soldiers

We Were Soldiers is a 2002 American war film that dramatizes the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14, 1965. The film was directed by Randall Wallace and stars Mel Gibson. It is based on the book We Were Soldiers Once… And Young by Lieutenant General Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L...

, The Last Samurai

The Last Samurai

, Finding Neverland

Finding Neverland

, Star Wars

Star Wars

, Aladdin, The Matrix

The Matrix

The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...

, Mean Girls

Mean Girls

Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy-drama film directed by Mark Waters. The screenplay was written by Tina Fey and is based in part on the non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, which describes how female high school social cliques operate and the effect they can have...

, Planet of the Apes

Planet of the Apes (2001 film)

Planet of the Apes is a 2001 American science fiction film, based on Pierre Boulle's novel and a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. Tim Burton directed the film, which stars Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, and Estella Warren. It tells the...

, Batman Beyond

Batman Beyond

Batman Beyond is an American animated television series created by Warner Bros. Animation in collaboration with DC Comics as a continuation of the Batman legacy...

, Alaska

Alaska (film)

Alaska is a 1996 action-adventure film that centers on two children who search through the Alaskan wilderness for their lost father. During their journey they find a polar bear that helps lead them to their father...

, Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American black comedy-fantasy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. It stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich, who plays a fictional version of himself...

, Black Beauty

Black Beauty (1994 film)

Black Beauty is a 1994 film adaptation of Anna Sewell's novel by the same name directed by Caroline Thompson in her directorial debut. The film stars Andrew Knott, Sean Bean and David Thewlis. The film is also treated as an autobiography of the horse Black Beauty as in the original novel, and is...

, Black Hawk Down, Black Rain, The Bodyguard

The Bodyguard

The Bodyguard is a 1992 American romantic-thriller film starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. Costner stars as a former Secret Service Agent turned bodyguard who is hired to protect Houston's character, a music star, from an unknown stalker. Lawrence Kasdan wrote the film in the 1970s,...

, Braveheart

Braveheart

Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...

, Casualties of War

Casualties of War

Casualties of War is a 1989 war drama directed by Brian De Palma, with a screenplay by David Rabe, based on the actual events of the incident on Hill 192 in 1966 during the Vietnam War. It starred Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn....

, Chaplin, Clear and Present Danger

Clear and Present Danger (film)

Clear and Present Danger is a 1994 film directed by Phillip Noyce, based on the book of the same name by Tom Clancy. It is a subsequent release to the 1992 film Patriot Games, which in itself is a subsequent release to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October.It is the last film to feature Harrison...

, Conspiracy Theory

Conspiracy Theory (film)

Conspiracy Theory is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Richard Donner.The original screenplay by Brian Helgeland centers on an eccentric taxi driver who believes many world events are triggered by government conspiracies, and the U.S...

, Cruising

Cruising (film)

Cruising is a 1980 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name, by New York Times reporter Gerald Walker, about a serial killer targeting gay men, in particular those associated with the S&M scene.Poorly reviewed by critics,...

, Dead Again

Dead Again

Dead Again is a 1991 psychological thriller/neo-noir directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Branagh and his then-wife Emma Thompson. Andy García, Derek Jacobi and Robin Williams are also featured.-Plot summary:...

, Donnie Brasco

Donnie Brasco (film)

Donnie Brasco is a 1997 crime drama film directed by Mike Newell, starring Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Michael Madsen. It is loosely based on the real-life events of Joseph D. Pistone, an FBI agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family, one of the Mafia's Five Families based in New York City...

, Fallen

Fallen (film)

Fallen is a 1998 supernatural thriller film, directed by Gregory Hoblit, and starring Denzel Washington, John Goodman and Donald Sutherland.-Plot:...

, Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a 1986 American teen coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by John Hughes.The film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller , who decides to skip school and spend the day in downtown Chicago...

, First Blood

First Blood

First Blood is a 1982 action thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam War veteran, with Sheriff Will Teasle as his nemesis and Colonel Samuel Trautman as his former commander and only ally...

, Flight of the Intruder

Flight of the Intruder

Flight of the Intruder is a 1991 film directed by John Milius, which is based on the novel of the same name by A-6 Intruder pilot Stephen Coonts...

, Ghost

Ghost (film)

Ghost is a 1990 romantic drama film starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. It was written by Bruce Joel Rubin and directed by Jerry Zucker.-Plot:...

, Hamlet

Hamlet (1996 film)

Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the title role as Prince Hamlet...

, Heathers

Heathers

Heathers is a 1989 black comedy film starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty. The film portrays four girls in a trend-setting clique at a fictional Ohio high school...

, The Hunt for Red October

The Hunt for Red October (film)

, JFK

JFK (film)

, The Mask

The Mask (film)

The Mask is a 1994 American superhero comedy film based on a series of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. This film was directed by Chuck Russell, and produced by Dark Horse Entertainment and New Line Cinema, and originally released to movie theatres on July 29, 1994 through New Line...

, The Mask of Zorro

The Mask of Zorro

, Medicine Man

Medicine Man (film)

Medicine Man is a 1992 American film directed by John McTiernan. The film stars Sean Connery and Lorraine Bracco. It also features a noteworthy score by composer Jerry Goldsmith.- Plot :...

, Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

Miracle on 34th Street (1994 film)

Miracle on 34th Street is a 1994 American fantasy film directed by Les Mayfield. It is the fourth remake of the original 1947 film. Like the original, this film was released by 20th Century Fox...

, Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat (video game)

Mortal Kombat is a 1992 fighting-game developed and published by Midway for arcades. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. Released in the Fall of 1994, the Microsoft Windows 3.1x version was released by Activision Interactive. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat...

, Mr. Mom

Mr. Mom

Mr. Mom is a 1983 American comedy-drama film directed by Stan Dragoti and written by John Hughes about a stay-at-home dad. The film stars Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher Lloyd, and Martin Mull.-Plot:...

, The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas, often promoted as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, is a 1993 stop motion musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to...

, Nothing in Common

Nothing in Common

Nothing in Common is a 1986 comedy-drama film, directed by Garry Marshall. It stars Tom Hanks and, in his last movie role, Jackie Gleason. The film proved to be Gleason's final film role, as he was suffering from colon cancer, liver cancer, and thrombosed hemorrhoids during production.The film,...

, Patriot Games

Patriot Games (film)

, Quiz Show

Quiz Show

Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...

, Regarding Henry

Regarding Henry

Regarding Henry is a 1991 American film drama starring Harrison Ford and Annette Bening, directed by Mike Nichols.The screenplay by J. J. Abrams focuses on a New York City lawyer who struggles to regain his memory and recover his speech and mobility after he survives a shooting.-Plot:Ambitious,...

, Rising Sun

Rising Sun (film)

Rising Sun is a [1993 film directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Sean Connery , Wesley Snipes, Harvey Keitel, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa...

, The Santa Clause

The Santa Clause

The Santa Clause is a 1994 American fantasy-dramedy film directed by John Pasquin, it is distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. and starring Tim Allen. In the film, Allen plays Scott Calvin, an ordinary man who accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall from his roof on Christmas Eve...

, The Scarlet Letter (1995 film)

The Scarlet Letter (1995 film)

The Scarlet Letter is a 1995 American film adaptation of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel of the same name. It was directed by Roland Joffé and stars Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, and Robert Duvall. This version was "freely adapted" from Hawthorne and deviated from the original story. Universally panned by...

, Steel Magnolias

Steel Magnolias

Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross that stars Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah and Julia Roberts....

, The Toy

The Toy

The Toy is a 1982 American comedy film starring Richard Pryor, Jackie Gleason, Ned Beatty, Scott Schwartz, Teresa Ganzel and Virginia Capers. It is an adaptation of the 1976 French film Le Jouet. The film is directed by Richard Donner.- Plot :...

, True Lies

True Lies

, Volcano, When a Man Loves a Woman

When a Man Loves a Woman (film)

When a Man Loves a Woman is a 1994 American romantic drama film written by Al Franken and Ronald Bass, starring Andy García, Meg Ryan, Tina Majorino, Mae Whitman, Ellen Burstyn, Lauren Tom and Philip Seymour Hoffman....

, Working Girl

Working Girl

Working Girl is a 1988 romantic comedy film written by Kevin Wade and directed by Mike Nichols. It tells the inspiring story of a Staten Island-raised secretary, Tess McGill , working in the mergers and acquisitions department of a Wall Street investment bank...

, Payback, Tea with Mussolini

Tea with Mussolini

Tea with Mussolini is a 1999 British-Italian semi-autobiographical film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, telling the story of young Italian boy Luca's upbringing by a circle of English and American women, before and during World War II.-Plot:...

, Police Academy

Police Academy (film)

Police Academy is a 1984 comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson, and starring Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall and G.W. Bailey. It grossed approximately $146 million worldwide and spawned six more films in the Police Academy series.-Plot:...

, Indecent Proposal

Indecent Proposal

Indecent Proposal is a 1993 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Jack Engelhard. It was directed by Adrian Lyne and stars Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson.-Plot:...

, Encino Man

Encino Man

Encino Man, released in Europe as California Man, is a 1992 comedy film directed by Les Mayfield and starring Brendan Fraser, Sean Astin and Pauly Shore. The plot revolves around two geeky teenagers from Encino, Los Angeles, California played by Astin and Shore, who discover a caveman in their...

, Anaconda

Anaconda (film)

Anaconda is a 1997, adventure-horror film, directed by Luis Llosa, starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Owen Wilson, and Eric Stoltz. It centers around a film crew for National Geographic who are kidnapped by a hunter who is going after the world's largest giant anaconda, which is...

, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nine to Five

Nine to Five

9 to 5 is a 1980 American comedy film starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Dabney Coleman. The film concerns three working women living out their fantasy of getting even with, and their successful overthrow of, the company's autocratic, "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical...

, Revenge

Revenge (film)

Revenge is a 1990 crime-drama-thriller directed by Tony Scott, starring Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn, Madeleine Stowe, Miguel Ferrer and Sally Kirkland. Some scenes were filmed in Mexico. The movie is a production of New World Pictures and Rastar Films and released by Columbia Pictures...

, Bicentennial Man

Bicentennial Man (film)

Bicentennial Man is a 1999 American drama and science fiction film starring Robin Williams and Sam Neill. Based on the novel The Positronic Man, co-written by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg which is itself based on Asimov's original novella titled The Bicentennial Man, the plot explores issues...

, Eraser

Eraser (film)

Eraser is a 1996 American action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Caan and Vanessa L. Williams. It was directed by Chuck Russell. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing in 1996.-Plot:...

Organizations

Beal is a former Governor of the Composers & Lyricists Guild of America (CLGA), former National Trustee and Governor of the Los Angeles Chapter of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...

(Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

s), an active member the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy Award

Emmy Award

s), The Recording Academy

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

Producers & Engineers Wing, is a Platinum member of the Society of Composers & Lyricists

Society of Composers & Lyricists

The Society Of Composers & Lyricists is an organization consisting of Hollywood's professional motion picture, Television, and multimedia music composers, songwriters and lyricists, with histories in the art of scoring for motion pictures and television. Many of its members have won or been...

, ASCAP, and the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers

American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers

The American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers was founded in 1938. It welcomes all composers as either associate or full members.Members originally dubbed their group "The American Society of Music Arrangers" , the predecessor to ASMAC....

Military service

Beal served in the United States Marine Corps and was trained as a specialist in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare (Weapons of Mass Destruction). Sergeant Beal fought in Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

as a door gunner

Door gunner

A door gunner is a crewman tasked with firing and maintaining manually directed armament aboard a helicopter. The actual role will vary depending on the task given on a particular mission.- Origins :...

on a Huey

UH-1 Iroquois

The Bell UH-1 Iroquois is a military helicopter powered by a single, turboshaft engine, with a two-bladed main rotor and tail rotor. The helicopter was developed by Bell Helicopter to meet the United States Army's requirement for a medical evacuation and utility helicopter in 1952, and first flew...

gunship, earning his Marine Corps Combat Air Crew Wings and in more than 200 combat missions and 24 major counter-insurgency operations against the North Vietnamese Army

Vietnam People's Army

The Vietnam People's Army is the armed forces of Vietnam. The VPA includes: the Vietnamese People's Ground Forces , the Vietnam People's Navy , the Vietnam People's Air Force, and the Vietnam Marine Police.During the French Indochina War , the VPA was often referred to as the Việt...

in Khe Sanh

Khe Sanh

Khe Sanh is the district capital of Hướng Hoá District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located 63 km west of Đông Hà.Khe Sanh Combat Base was a United States Marine Corps outpost in South Vietnam used during the Vietnam War. The airstrip was built in September 1962...

, Con Thien

Con Thien

Con Thien , was a United States Marine Corps combat base located near the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone about 3 km from North Vietnam...

, Lao Bảo, Dong Ha

Dong Ha

Đông Hà is the capital town of Quang Tri province, Vietnam. It is located at around . Dong Ha is situated at the crossroads of National Highway 1A and Route 9, part of the East-West Economic Corridor . It lies on the Reunification Express Railway and is served by Dong Ha Railway Station...

and the A Shau Valley

Battle of Hamburger Hill

The Battle of Hamburger Hill was a battle of the Vietnam War which was fought by the United States and South Vietnam against North Vietnamese forces from May 10–20, 1969. Although the heavily fortified Hill 937 was of little strategic value, U.S. command ordered its capture by a frontal assault,...

. He received the Combat Action Ribbon

Combat Action Ribbon

The Combat Action Ribbon is a personal military decoration of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard which is awarded to those who, in any grade including and below that of a Captain in the Navy and Coast Guard , have actively participated in ground or...

along with 8 Air Medal

Air Medal

The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...

s for bravery and was awarded a Single Mission Air Medal

Air Medal

The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...

with Bronze Star for heroism during the rescue of a severely wounded Marine reconnaissance team which was pinned down on a steep muddy hillside near Hamburger Hill

Battle of Hamburger Hill

in the A Shau Valley

A Shau Valley

The A Shau Valley is a valley in Vietnam's, Thừa Thiên province, west of the city of Huế along the border with Laos. The valley was one of the key entry points into South Vietnam for men and matériel brought along the Ho Chi Minh Trail by the communist forces and was the scene of heavy fighting...

on April 11, 1969. After a serious firefight with an overwhelming force near Lao Bảo earlier in the day, Beal's crew refueled and came upon the trapped recon team. Surrounded by enemy fire, the Marines were struggling to drag their wounded up the extremely steep and muddy mountain to an accessible area, but were taking fire from all sides and nearly out of strength. Due to his "unwavering tenacity in the face of withering enemy fire," all five Marines were saved. Beal was awarded a Navy Achievement Medal with Combat V for Valor for his service to Vietnamese refugees near the DMZ who had fled mass genocide

Genocide

Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...

by the North Vietnamese Army

Vietnam People's Army

in the North in recognition of his dedication in helping to build schools, provide medical care and protect the civilians, and the Vietnam Gallantry Cross

Vietnam Gallantry Cross

The Vietnam Gallantry Cross was a military decoration of South Vietnam which wasestablished in August 1950. Also known as the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, the Gallantry Cross was awarded to any military personnel who have accomplished deeds of valor or displayed heroic conduct while fighting an...

and Vietnam Civil Actions Medal from the government of the Republic of Vietnam

South Vietnam

. Other medals include the Navy and Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation

Navy Unit Commendation

The Navy Unit Commendation of the United States Navy is an award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944...

, Meritorious Unit Commendation

Meritorious Unit Commendation

The Meritorious Unit Commendation is a mid-level unit award of the United States military which is awarded to any military command which displays exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service, heroic deeds, or valorous actions....

, Vietnam Service Medal

Vietnam Service Medal

The Vietnam Service Medal is a military award which was created in 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The distinctive design was the creation of sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, a former employee of the Army Institute of Heraldry. The medal is issued to recognize military service during...

and RVN Vietnam Service Medal

Vietnam Campaign Medal

The Vietnam Campaign Medal is a military recognition awarded by the Republic of Vietnam, , to any member of the United States, Australian, New Zealand and allied military forces serving six months or more in support of Republic of Vietnam military operations.Established in 1966, the decoration is...

Articles and books

The Emerging Film Composer book by Richard Bellis, 2006 pp. 136–137
Welcome to Heart Attack City by John Beal, "The Score", Volume XII Number 4, Winter 1998 p. 1, (continues on p. 4) Online
John Beal, Musical Chameleon November 11, 1998, interview by Helene San, Cinemusic.net
The Modern Hollywood Composer: Interview with Composer John Beal, by Simon Barber, Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts Interview
The Art of Scoring Trailers: John Beal by Lukas Kendall, Part 1 - Film Score Monthly Magazine, issue #35, July 2003, pp 6–7, Part 2 continues in issue #36/Aug 37/September 1993, pp18–19 Online version
Art of the Tease by Rick Sherwood, Hollywood Reporter August 25, 1992 pp. S-39-S-72
Coming Attractions!: The two-minute film scores of John Beal by Randall D. Larson, "The Score" Cinefantastique, June 1999, Volume 31, Number 6 p. 60
The Oxford Student, Trailer Music
Movie trailer music: it's not what you think by Stephen Kelly, Guardian

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.