Biography of Carter Burwell

Composer Carter Burwell is best known for his association with filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen. He first began working with them on their debut feature, Blood Simple (1984). A good example of Burwell's skill as a composer can be seen in the Coens' black comedy Raising Arizona (1987) in which each major character has a quirky theme drawn from a variety of obscure sources. Burwell created his first fully orchestrated score for the Coens' Miller's Crossing (1990). His haunting score for Barton Fink (1991) was made in conjunction with sound designer Skip Lievsay and is comprised of 20 bars of music combined with other sound effects. Burwell has also written scores for other films such as Doc Hollywood (1991) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). ~ Sandra Brennan