Grusin was the son of Rosabelle De Poyster, a pianist, as well as Henri Grusin (a violinist from Latvia who immigrated from Riga), and was born in Littleton. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder College of Music in 1956 and was awarded his bachelor’s degree. Cecil Effinger was one of his teachers. Grusin’s filmography includes about 100 titles. He won an Oscar for The Milagro Beanfield War’s best original score. There were also Oscar nominations for The Champ and The Fabulous Baker Boys. He was also nominated for best original song for “It Might Be You” in Tootsie. Sixteen of the 14 tracks on The Graduate’s soundtrack are his. He also composed film scores for The Graduate, Three Days of the Condor and Tequila Sunrise. He was the conductor of The Andy Williams Show (1963-1965), and the composer of the theme music for series such as The Name of the Game (1968), Dan August (70), The Sandy Duncan Show (1971-1972), Maude (1972), Good Times, Baretta (1975), St. Elsewhere (1982) and Tres Generaciones (1987) for Televisa Mexico. He composed the music for each episode of each show. Other TV credits include The Wild Wild West (1966), and The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. (1966), and Columbo – Prescription for Murder (1968). From 1984 to 1992, he also wrote the theme song to One Life to Live (1968). Almanac, a Minneapolis-St. Paul regional news and affair program has used Grusin’s 1982 album “Out of the Shadows” for their theme since 2005. Grusin was a musical director and arranger for the 1966 Catarina Valente TV program. He also lived in Amsterdam longer. There are 35 Grusin CDs available, including originals, soundtracks, collections and tributes to jazz greats George Gershwin and Duke Ellington. He has been focusing on his own compositions in recent years. These compositions, like many of his work, defy classification. You can hear them on CD’s made in collaboration with major artists such as James Taylor, Renee Fleming, and Lee Ritenour. Grusin has contributed his jazz, film and other collaborations to many albums. He also assisted as a producer/arranger/musician to several albums by artists such as Paul Simon, Sergio Mendes and Quincy Jones. Grusin has been tapped by Billy Joel for horn and string arrangements. Grusin was the one who arranged “Half A Mile Away”, Joel’s album on “52nd Street”, and also contributed string arrangements and horns to Joel’s 1982 concept album, “The Nylon Curtain”. GRP Records was founded in 1978 by Grusin and Larry Rosen. GRP Records was responsible for MCA’s jazz operations in 1994. Tommy LiPuma replaced Grusin and Rosen as founders in 1995. Grusin and Rosen founded N2K Encoded Music in 1997. It was later renamed N-Coded Music. He was awarded honorary doctorates by Berklee College of Music and University of Colorado College of Music in 1988, respectively. Grusin was inducted into the Beta Chi Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, University of Colorado, in 1953. Dave is married Nan Newton. He is the father to music editor Stuart Grusin and Scott Grusin (music editor and musician), and Michael Grusin (astronautic engineer). He is the stepfather to Annie Vought and the elder brother to keyboardist Don Grusin, and sister Dee Grusin. Wikipedia
