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Julian Manduca
Double Oscar winner Leslie Bricusse, who has written more than 30 musical shows, is to commence court proceedings against lawyer Patrick Spiteri. Bricusse, who is married to a Maltese, is lodging a case for about Lm200,000 against Spiteri who has had to face several similar claims in the past.
A flamboyant rising star in the legal profession up until a few years ago, Patrick Spiteri has been at the centre of several court actions in recent years. His flashy cars and large boats attracted attention, but so did later his investment advice and property deals. He was also an advisor to the Labour government when it introduced CET to replace VAT. Spiteri’s name has been linked to a number of investment scams, but no accusations have stuck.
Bricusse, born in 1931, is an Englishman with an enormous talent for songwriting. He has collected eight nominations and been awarded two Oscars in 1967 and 1982 for the scores of ‘Doctor Doolittle’ and ‘Victor/Victoria’ - which he co-authored with Henry Mancini. He won a Grammy in 1962 and has been nominated six times. The songwriter has won eight Novello Awards, including the 1989 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Early on in his career, Bricusse enjoyed substantial successes in collaboration with Anthony Newley in memorable Broadway triumphs such as Stop the World, I Want to Get Off and The Roar of the Greasepaint-The Smell of the Crowd.
In the 1980’s he also collaborated with Henry Mancini, John Williams, John Barry, Jule Styne, Jerry Goldsmith, Lionel Bart and Andre Previn.
Bricusse has contributed songs and/or screenplays in a number of memorable films including Doctor Doolittle, Scrooge, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Victor Victoria, Peter Pan, Babes in Toyland and The Pied Piper.
He has also contributed to many memorable hit songs including ‘What Kind of Fool Am l?’, ‘Once in a Lifetime’, ‘Who Can I Turn To?’, ‘Talk to the Animals’, ‘On a Wonderful Day Like Today’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Gonna Build a Mountain’, ‘You Only Live Twice’, ‘My Kind of Girl’, ‘Feeling Good’ (and number one hit for Nina Simone), ‘If I Ruled the World’, ‘The Love Theme from Superman, ‘Two for the Road’ and ‘The Candy Man’. Both ‘Candy Man’ and ‘What Kind of Fool Am I?’ became major hits for Sammy Davis Jr.
Leslie Bricusse produced hit musicals like the 1995 production Victor/Victoria and the 1997 Broadway smash Jekyll & Hyde.
Patrick Spiteri – who MaltaToday had revealed was also a freemason - has so far managed to avoid conviction but his former extravagant life style had been toned down somewhat.
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