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A visual history · Oscars

The winners who defined Adaptation Score.

44 ceremonies, 1939–1985. 35 different winners. The longest run belongs to Alfred Newman, with 2 straight wins.

  1. Purple RainPrince
  2. YentlMichel Legrand & Alan & Marilyn Bergman
  3. Victor/VictoriaHenry Mancini & Leslie Bricusse
  4. All That JazzRalph Burns
  5. The Buddy Holly StoryJoe Renzetti
  6. A Little Night MusicJonathan Tunick
Years explored
1939–1985
Different winners
35
Category leader
Alfred Newman · 5
About this record

Best Adaptation Score was first awarded in 1939, so it does not run the full 1929–2025 window.

It was awarded for the last time in 1985.

This honoured the arrangement and adaptation of existing music rather than a new score, which is why a musical could win it with songs written years earlier. The Academy retired it after the 58th ceremony as the film musical declined.

01 / The reigns

Alfred Newman set the longest run.

The timeline turns the complete record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited distributor.

  1. 01
    Alfred Newman5 wins
  2. 02
    André Previn3 wins
  3. 03
    Leonard Rosenman2 wins
  4. 04
    Ralph Burns2 wins
  5. 05
    Ray Heindorf2 wins
Each band is one winner’s reign. Wider means a longer run. Colored by distributor; hover for details. Outlined blocks are years the award was not presented.
Alfred Newman'39
Stagecoach'40
Alfred Newman'41
Frank Churchill & Oliver Wallace'42
Ray Heindorf & Heinz Roemheld'43
Ray Heindorf'44
Morris Stoloff & Carmen Dragon'45
Georgie Stoll'46
Morris Stoloff'47
Alfred Newman'48
Johnny Green & Roger Edens'49
Roger Edens & Lennie Hayton'50
Adolph Deutsch & Roger Edens'51
Saul Chaplin & Johnny Green'52
Alfred Newman'53–'54×2
Saul Chaplin & Adolph Deutsch'55
Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton & Adolph Deutsch'56
Ken Darby & Newman'57
'58not awarded
André Previn'59
Ken Darby & André Previn'60
Morris Stoloff & Harry Sukman'61
Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Irwin Kostal & Sid Ramin'62
Ray Heindorf'63
André Previn'64–'65×2
Irwin Kostal'66
Ken Thorne'67
Ken Darby & Alfred Newman'68
Johnny Green'69
Lennie Hayton & Lionel Newman'70
The Beatles'71
John Williams'72
Ralph Burns'73
Marvin Hamlisch'74
Nelson Riddle'75
Leonard Rosenman'76–'77×2
Jonathan Tunick'78
Joe Renzetti'79
Ralph Burns'80
'81–'82not awarded
Henry Mancini & Leslie Bricusse'83
Michel Legrand & Alan & Marilyn Bergman'84
Prince'85

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

20th Century leads the recorded distributor credits with 8 wins. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

20th Century8 wins
United Artists7 wins
Warner Bros.7 wins
Sony6 wins
Loew's Inc.4 wins
Loew's, Inc.2 wins
Wins by distributor
  1. 20th Century818%
  2. United Artists716%
  3. Warner Bros.716%
  4. Sony614%
  5. Loew's Inc.49%
  6. Loew's, Inc.25%
  7. Other1023%

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 1939–1985.

Most nominated, never won

  1. 01
    Walter Scharf
    5 noms
  2. 02
    Charles Previn
    4 noms
  3. 03
    Cy Feuer
    4 noms
  4. 04
    Lennie Hayton
    4 noms
  5. 05
    Lionel Newman
    4 noms
  6. 06
    Ray Heindorf & Max Steiner
    4 noms

Most losses

  1. 01
    Alfred Newman
    10L · 5W
  2. 02
    Ray Heindorf
    8L · 2W
  3. 03
    Walter Scharf
    5L · 0W
  4. 04
    Charles Previn
    4L · 0W
  5. 05
    Cy Feuer
    4L · 0W
  6. 06
    Lennie Hayton
    4L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerDistributor
1985Prince (Purple Rain)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Jeff Moss (The Muppets Take Manhattan)
  • Kris Kristofferson (Songwriter)
Warner Bros.
1984Michel Legrand & Alan & Marilyn Bergman (Yentl)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Lalo Schifrin (The Sting II)
  • Elmer Bernstein (Trading Places)
MGM/UA Entertainment Company
1983Henry Mancini & Leslie Bricusse (Victor/Victoria)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Ralph Burns (Annie)
  • Tom Waits (One from the Heart)
MGM/UA Entertainment Co./United International Pictures
1980Ralph Burns (All That Jazz)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Patrick Williams (Breaking Away)
  • Paul Williams & Kenny Ascher (The Muppet Movie)
20th Century-Fox/Columbia Pictures
1979Joe Renzetti (The Buddy Holly Story)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Jerry Wexler (Pretty Baby)
  • Quincy Jones (The Wiz)
Columbia Pictures
1978Jonathan Tunick (A Little Night Music)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Joel Hirschhorn & Al Kasha & Irwin Kostal (Pete's Dragon)
  • Sherman Brothers & Angela Morley (The Slipper and the Rose)
New World Pictures
1977Leonard Rosenman (Bound for Glory)repeatunverified
beat 2 others
  • Paul Williams (Bugsy Malone)
  • Roger Kellaway (A Star Is Born)
United Artists
1976Leonard Rosenman (Barry Lyndon)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Peter Matz (Funny Lady)
  • Pete Townshend (Tommy)
Warner Bros./Columbia-Warner Distributors
1975Nelson Riddle (The Great Gatsby)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe, Douglas Gamley & Angela Morley (The Little Prince)
  • Paul Williams & George Tipton (Phantom of the Paradise)
Paramount Pictures
1974Marvin Hamlisch (The Sting)unverified
beat 2 others
  • André Previn, Herbert W. Spencer & Andrew Lloyd Webber (Jesus Christ Superstar)
  • Sherman Brothers & John Williams (Tom Sawyer)
Universal Pictures
1973Ralph Burns (Cabaret)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Gil Askey (Lady Sings the Blues)
  • Laurence Rosenthal (Man of La Mancha)
Allied Artists
1972John Williams (Fiddler on the Roof)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Sherman Brothers & Irwin Kostal (Bedknobs and Broomsticks)
  • Peter Maxwell Davies & Peter Greenwell (The Boy Friend)
  • Dimitri Tiomkin (Tchaikovsky)
  • Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley & Walter Scharf (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
United Artists
1971The Beatles (Let It Be)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Fred Karlin & Tylwyth Kymry (The Baby Maker)
  • Rod McKuen, John Scott Trotter, Bill Melendez, Al Shean, Vince Guaraldi (A Boy Named Charlie Brown)
  • Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer (Darling Lili)
  • Leslie Bricusse, Ian Fraser & Herbert W. Spencer (Scrooge)
United Artists
1970Lennie Hayton & Lionel Newman (Hello, Dolly!)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Leslie Bricusse & John Williams (Goodbye, Mr. Chips)
  • Nelson Riddle (Paint Your Wagon)
  • Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity)
  • Johnny Green & Albert Woodbury (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?)
20th Century-Fox
1969Johnny Green (Oliver!)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Ray Heindorf (Finian's Rainbow)
  • Walter Scharf (Funny Girl)
  • Lennie Hayton (Star!)
  • Michel Legrand & Jacques Demy (The Young Girls of Rochefort)
Columbia Pictures
1968Ken Darby & Alfred Newman (Camelot)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Sandy Courage & Lionel Newman (Doctor Dolittle)
  • Frank De Vol (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)
  • Joseph Gershenson & André Previn (Thoroughly Modern Millie)
  • John Williams (Valley of the Dolls)
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
1967Ken Thorne (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Luis Bacalov (The Gospel According to St. Matthew)
  • Elmer Bernstein (Return of the Seven)
  • Harry Sukman (The Singing Nun)
  • Al Ham (Stop the World – I Want to Get Off)
United Artists
1966Irwin Kostal (The Sound of Music)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Frank De Vol (Cat Ballou)
  • Sandy Courage & Lionel Newman (The Pleasure Seekers)
  • Don Walker (A Thousand Clowns)
  • Michel Legrand (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg)
20th Century-Fox
1965André Previn (My Fair Lady)repeatunverified
beat 4 others
  • George Martin (A Hard Day's Night)
  • Irwin Kostal (Mary Poppins)
  • Nelson Riddle (Robin and the 7 Hoods)
  • Robert Armbruster, Leo Arnaud, Jack Elliott, Jack Hayes, Calvin Jackson & Leo Shuken (The Unsinkable Molly Brown)
Warner Bros.
1964André Previn (Irma la Douce)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Johnny Green (Bye Bye Birdie)
  • Leith Stevens (A New Kind of Love)
  • Maurice Jarre (Sundays and Cybele)
  • George Bruns (The Sword in the Stone)
United Artists
1963Ray Heindorf (The Music Man)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Georgie Stoll (Billy Rose's Jumbo)
  • Michel Magne (Gigot)
  • Frank Perkins (Gypsy)
  • Leigh Harline (The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm)
Warner Bros. Pictures
1962Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Irwin Kostal & Sid Ramin (West Side Story)unverified
beat 4 others
  • George Bruns (Babes in Toyland)
  • Alfred Newman & Ken Darby (Flower Drum Song)
  • Dmitri Shostakovich (Khovanshchina)
  • Duke Ellington (Paris Blues)
United Artists
1961Morris Stoloff & Harry Sukman (Song Without End)unverified
beat 4 others
  • André Previn (Bells Are Ringing)
  • Nelson Riddle (Can-Can)
  • Earle Hagen & Lionel Newman (Let's Make Love)
  • Johnny Green (Pepe)
Columbia Pictures
1960Ken Darby & André Previn (Porgy and Bess)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Leith Stevens (The Five Pennies)
  • Joseph J. Lilley & Nelson Riddle (Li'l Abner)
  • Lionel Newman (Say One for Me)
  • George Bruns (Sleeping Beauty)
Columbia Pictures
1959André Previn (Gigi)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Yuri Fayer & Gennady Rozhdestvensky (The Bolshoi Ballet)
  • Ray Heindorf (Damn Yankees)
  • Lionel Newman (Mardi Gras)
  • Ken Darby & Alfred Newman (South Pacific)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
1957Ken Darby & Newman (The King and I)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Lionel Newman (The Best Things in Life Are Free)
  • George Duning & Morris Stoloff (The Eddy Duchin Story)
  • Saul Chaplin & Johnny Green (High Society)
  • Johnny Green & Georgie Stoll (Meet Me in Las Vegas)
20th Century-Fox
1956Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton & Adolph Deutsch (Oklahoma!)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Alfred Newman (Daddy Long Legs)
  • Jay Blackton & Cyril J. Mockridge (Guys and Dolls)
  • André Previn (It's Always Fair Weather)
  • Percy Faith & Georgie Stoll (Love Me or Leave Me)
Magna Theatre Corporation (70mm)/RKO Radio Pictures (35mm)
1955Saul Chaplin & Adolph Deutsch (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Herschel Burke Gilbert (Carmen Jones)
  • Joseph Gershenson & Henry Mancini (The Glenn Miller Story)
  • Ray Heindorf (A Star Is Born)
  • Alfred Newman & Lionel Newman (There's No Business Like Show Business)
Loew's, Inc.
1954Alfred Newman (Call Me Madam)repeatunverified
beat 4 others
  • Friedrich Hollaender & Morris Stoloff (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.)
  • Adolph Deutsch (The Band Wagon)
  • Ray Heindorf (Calamity Jane)
  • Saul Chaplin & André Previn (Kiss Me Kate)
20th Century Fox
1953Alfred Newman (With a Song in My Heart)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Walter Scharf (Hans Christian Andersen)
  • Ray Heindorf & Max Steiner (The Jazz Singer)
  • Gian Carlo Menotti (The Medium)
  • Lennie Hayton (Singin' in the Rain)
20th Century Fox
1952Saul Chaplin & Johnny Green (An American in Paris)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Oliver Wallace (Alice in Wonderland)
  • Peter Herman Adler & Johnny Green (The Great Caruso)
  • Alfred Newman (On the Riviera)
  • Adolph Deutsch & Conrad Salinger (Show Boat)
Loew's Inc.
1951Adolph Deutsch & Roger Edens (Annie Get Your Gun)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Paul Smith & Oliver Wallace (Cinderella)
  • Lionel Newman (I'll Get By)
  • André Previn (Three Little Words)
  • Ray Heindorf (The West Point Story)
Loew's, Inc.
1950Roger Edens & Lennie Hayton (On the Town)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Morris Stoloff & George Duning (Jolson Sings Again)
  • Ray Heindorf (Look for the Silver Lining)
Loew's Inc.
1949Johnny Green & Roger Edens (Easter Parade)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Victor Young (The Emperor Waltz)
  • Lennie Hayton (The Pirate)
  • Ray Heindorf (Romance on the High Seas)
  • Alfred Newman (When My Baby Smiles at Me)
Loew's Inc.
1948Alfred Newman (Mother Wore Tights)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Johnny Green (Fiesta)
  • Ray Heindorf & Max Steiner (My Wild Irish Rose)
  • Robert Emmett Dolan (Road to Rio)
  • Daniele Amfitheatrof, Paul Smith & Charles Wolcott (Song of the South)
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
1947Morris Stoloff (The Jolson Story)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Robert Emmett Dolan (Blue Skies)
  • Alfred Newman (Centennial Summer)
  • Lennie Hayton (The Harvey Girls)
  • Ray Heindorf & Max Steiner (Night and Day)
Columbia Pictures
1946Georgie Stoll (Anchors Aweigh)unverified
beat 11 others
  • Arthur Lange (Belle of the Yukon)
  • Jerome Kern & Hans J. Salter (Can't Help Singing)
  • Morton Scott (Hitchhike to Happiness)
  • Robert E. Dolan (Incendiary Blonde)
  • Ray Heindorf & Max Steiner (Rhapsody in Blue)
  • Alfred Newman & Charles Henderson (State Fair)
  • Edward J. Kay (Sunbonnet Sue)
  • Edward Plumb, Paul Smith & Charles Wolcott (The Three Caballeros)
  • Marlin Skiles & Morris Stoloff (Tonight and Every Night)
  • Walter Greene (Why Girls Leave Home)
  • Louis Forbes & Ray Heindorf (Wonder Man)
Loew's Inc.
1945Morris Stoloff & Carmen Dragon (Cover Girl)unverified
beat 13 others
  • Walter Scharf (Brazil)
  • Constantin Bakaleinikoff (Higher and Higher)
  • Ray Heindorf (Hollywood Canteen)
  • Alfred Newman (Irish Eyes Are Smiling)
  • Werner Heymann & Kurt Weill (Knickerbocker Holiday)
  • Robert Emmett Dolan (Lady in the Dark)
  • Edward Kay (Lady, Let's Dance)
  • Georgie Stoll (Meet Me in St. Louis)
  • Hans J. Salter (The Merry Monahans)
  • Ferde Grofé & Leo Erdody (Minstrel Man)
  • Mahlon Merrick (Sensations of 1945)
  • Charles Previn (Song of the Open Road)
  • Louis Forbes & Ray Heindorf (Up in Arms)
Columbia Pictures
1944Ray Heindorf (This Is the Army)unverified
beat 9 others
  • Alfred Newman (Coney Island)
  • Walter Scharf (Hit Parade of 1943)
  • Edward Ward (Phantom of the Opera)
  • Edward Plumb, Paul Smith & Charles Wolcott (Saludos Amigos)
  • Leigh Harline (The Sky's the Limit)
  • Morris Stoloff (Something to Shout About)
  • Fred Rich (Stage Door Canteen)
  • Robert E. Dolan (Star Spangled Rhythm)
  • Herbert P. Stothart (Thousands Cheer)
Warner Bros. Pictures
1943Ray Heindorf & Heinz Roemheld (Yankee Doodle Dandy)unverified
beat 7 others
  • Edward Ward (Flying with Music)
  • Roger Edens & Georgie Stoll (For Me and My Gal)
  • Robert E. Dolan (Holiday Inn)
  • Hans J. Salter & Charles Previn (It Started with Eve)
  • Walter Scharf (Johnny Doughboy)
  • Alfred Newman (My Gal Sal)
  • Leigh Harline (You Were Never Lovelier)
Warner Bros. Pictures
1942Frank Churchill & Oliver Wallace (Dumbo)unverified
beat 9 others
  • Edward Ward (All-American Co-Ed)
  • Robert E. Dolan (Birth of the Blues)
  • Charles Previn (Buck Privates)
  • Herbert Stothart & Bronisław Kaper (The Chocolate Soldier)
  • Cy Feuer (Ice-Capades)
  • Heinz Roemheld (The Strawberry Blonde)
  • Emil Newman (Sun Valley Serenade)
  • Anthony Collins (Sunny)
  • Morris Stoloff (You'll Never Get Rich)
RKO Radio Pictures
1941Alfred Newman (Tin Pan Alley)unverified
beat 8 others
  • Victor Young (Arise, My Love)
  • Cy Feuer (Hit Parade of 1941)
  • Anthony Collins (Irene)
  • Aaron Copland (Our Town)
  • Erich Korngold (The Sea Hawk)
  • Artie Shaw (Second Chorus)
  • Charles Previn (Spring Parade)
  • Roger Edens & Georgie Stoll (Strike Up the Band)
20th Century-Fox
1940Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold & Leo Shuken (Stagecoach)unverified
beat 12 others
  • Roger Edens & Georgie Stoll (Babes in Arms)
  • Charles Previn (First Love)
  • Phil Boutelje & Arthur Lange (The Great Victor Herbert)
  • Alfred Newman (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
  • Louis Forbes (Intermezzo)
  • Dimitri Tiomkin (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)
  • Aaron Copland (Of Mice and Men)
  • Erich Korngold (The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex)
  • Cy Feuer (She Married a Cop)
  • Louis Silvers (Swanee River)
  • Alfred Newman (They Shall Have Music)
  • Victor Young (Way Down South)
United Artists
1939Alfred Newman (Alexander's Ragtime Band)unverified
beat 10 others
  • Victor Baravalle (Carefree)
  • Morris Stoloff & Gregory Stone (Girls' School)
  • Alfred Newman (The Goldwyn Follies)
  • Max Steiner (Jezebel)
  • Charles Previn & Frank Skinner (Mad About Music)
  • Cy Feuer (Storm Over Bengal)
  • Herbert Stothart (Sweethearts)
  • Marvin Hatley (There Goes My Heart)
  • Boris Morros (Tropic Holiday)
  • Franz Waxman (The Young in Heart)
20th Century Fox