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John Mervyn Addison was a British composer best known for his film scores.
Addison was born in Chobham, Surrey to a father who was a colonel in the British Army, and this influenced the decision to send him to school at Wellington College, Berkshire. At the age of sixteen he entered the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition with Gordon Jacob, oboe with Léon Goossens, and clarinet with Frederick Thurston. This education ended in 1939 with service in World War II. Addison served with the British XXX Corps in the 23rd Hussars. He was a tank officer in the Battle of Normandy and wounded at Caen, later participating in Operation Market Garden. At the end of the war, he returned to London to teach composition at the Royal College of Music.
Addison is best known for his film scores. He won an Academy Award and a Grammy Award in the Best Original Score from a Motion Picture or Television Show category for the music to the 1963 film, Tom Jones. He also won a BAFTA Award for A Bridge Too Far. His other film scores included A Taste of Honey, Smashing Time, The Honey Pot, Sleuth, Swashbuckler and the television series Centennial.
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