Andre Previn, Oscar-winning Jewish composer, dies at 89

Andre Previn, the pianist, composer and conductor whose broad reach took in the worlds of Hollywood, jazz and classical music, has died. He was 89.

His manager Linda Petrikova says Previn passed away today in his US home in Manhattan.

Previn was a child prodigy whose Jewish family fled Nazi Germany. As a teenager, he found work as a composer and arranger in the musical sweatshops of Hollywood, mostly at MGM, winning four Oscars for his orchestrations of such stylish musicals as 1964’s “My Fair Lady.”

He then abandoned Hollywood for a career as a classical conductor.

In this September 1, 2004 file photo, conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Andre Previn, conducts the 15th symphony concert during the Lucerne Festival in the concert hall in Lucerne, Switzerland. (Urs FlueelerKEYSTONE via AP, File)

— AP

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