Johnny Mandel

ABOUT JOHNNY MANDEL

Known for his work in pop music, film, and jazz. He composed "Suicide is Painless," the theme for the film and TV versions of "M*A*S*H." He received the NEA Jazz Masters Award in 2011.

His earliest credit comes from the 1958 film "I Want to Live!," which was nominated for a Grammy.

He worked with many of history's most famous artists, including Frank Sinatra , Barbra Streisand , Count Basie , Peggy Lee , and Anita O'Day .

He was found to have perfect pitch by his mother Hannah, an opera singer, when he was five. He married Martha Blanner in 1970, with whom he had a daughter named Marrisa in 1976.

He co-wrote the theme song for the film "The Sandpiper" with Paul Francis Webster . It won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Song and the 1966 Grammy Award for Song of the Year.