Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (born 23 August 1961 in Paris, France) is a French filmscore composer. Notably, he has received four Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, five Golden Globe nominations and six César nominations, winning a Golden Globe for his work on "The Painted Veil" (2006) and a César for both his works on "De Battre Mon Cœur S'est Arrêté" (2006) and "The Ghost Writer" (2011). In 2011, Desplat won his first British Academy Film Award for his score for "The King's Speech". Desplat was born in Paris to a French father and a Greek mother. ...show more

Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (born 23 August 1961 in Paris, France) is a French filmscore composer. Notably, he has received four Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, five Golden Globe nominations and six César nominations, winning a Golden Globe for his work on "The Painted Veil" (2006) and a César for both his works on "De Battre Mon Cœur S'est Arrêté" (2006) and "The Ghost Writer" (2011). In 2011, Desplat won his first British Academy Film Award for his score for "The King's Speech". Desplat was born in Paris to a French father and a Greek mother.

At the age of five, he began playing piano. He also became proficient on trumpet and flute. He studied with Claude Ballif and Iannis Xenakis in France and Jack Hayes in the U.S. Desplat's musical interests were wide, and he was also influenced by South American and African artists and teachers, among whom were Carlinhos Brown and Ray Lema.

Desplat has composed extensively for films, in France and in Hollywood - scores and incidental music for over 100 films including "Lapse of Memory" (1992), "Family Express" (1992), "Regarde les hommes tomber" (1994), "Les Péchés Mortels" (1995), César-nominated "Un héros très discret" (1996), "Une Minute de Silence" (1998), "Sweet Revenge" (1998), "Le Château des Singes" (1999), "Home Sweet Home" (2001), "Reines D'Un Jour" (2001), the César-nominated "Sur mes Lèvres" (2002), "Rire et Châtiment" (2003), "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (2009) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" (2010). Desplat has composed individual songs that have been sung in films by such artists as Akhenaton, Kate Beckinsale, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Valérie Lemercier, Miosotis and Catherine Ringer. He has also written music for the theatre, including pieces performed at the Comédie Française. ...show less