Bite Size Oscar History: Best Original Score
This lush opulent musical composition won Best Original Score in 1963, making the first win of three in this composer’s illustrious career.
The 98th Academy Awards is almost here and it’s time to celebrate. We're shining a light on past winners for Best Cinematography, Best Animated Feature, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original Score.
In 1935, the Best Original Scoring category included original and adapted music. By 1939, the Best Original Score category was created, excluding any pre-existing music. In 1963, Maurice Jarre (Doctor Zhivago, A Passage to India) nabbed his first win of three in his career for the sweeping, lush score for cinematic masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia, which won a total of seven Oscars.
Grand in scope, Jarre’s opulent musical composition won for Best Music Score - Substantially Original at the 35th Academy Awards and remains one of the most celebrated film scores of all time.
Join us here at Script as we celebrate the magic of the movies weekly until the Oscars airs on March 15, 2026.
Sonya Alexander started off her career training to be a talent agent. She eventually realized she was meant to be on the creative end and has been writing ever since. As a freelance writer she’s written screenplays, covered film, television, music and video games and done academic writing. She’s also been a script reader for over twenty years. She's a member of the African American Film Critics Association and currently resides in Los Angeles.
