The Man Behind Your Favorite Soundtrack: Charles Fox
We all love and immensely appreciate the songs that bring a movie to life, humming as we walk out of the theater, adding the soundtrack to our Spotify playlists, but we often don’t hear about the musical geniuses behind them, until now. Killing Me Softly with His Songs follows composing legend Charles Fox’s life and career from the streets of the Bronx to his education at the Fontainbleau music conservatory in Paris where he studied with the legendary composition teacher Nadia Boulanger. The film takes musical lovers and film lovers alike through his fabled career in Hollywood and finally to Havana, Cuba where Fox “returns to his musical roots.”
Pop Culture Planet’s Danielle Forte sat down with the man of the hour Charles Fox, as well as the documentary’s director Danny Gold, to discuss what went into creating this tale of Fox’s life.
Charles Fox is an acclaimed composer and has probably scored your favorite movies and shows, including Barbarella, 9 to 5, and Foul Play. Oh, and not to mention hits such as "Killing Me Softly With His Song," "I Got A Name,” and "Ready To Take A Chance Again," as well as iconic television show themes for Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Love Boat, and Wonder Woman. It’s evident Charles Fox is a musical master and luminary. “The soundtrack of my life. As a kid, I remember distinctly ‘Killing Me Softly.’ Even before I knew Charlie, I knew Charlie,” Gold said about how Fox’s music influenced him. That sentiment rings true and it’s exactly the feeling Fox hopes to elicit with his iconic scores. “If I’m going to write something, I want to write something that has the ability to be appreciated,” shared Fox. “I think about that [when writing], so that it can stay around so that people can think about it years later.”
Fox wouldn’t be where he is today without his teacher Nadie Boulanger who he credits throughout our interview and his film. The Paris scenes felt like an endearing tribute to her. Fox has accomplished a copious amount of milestones throughout his life, but he is humble and never forgets where he started. “She influenced me to this day. I like to say she gave me a life of music,” Fox said. Gold continued that if there was going to be anything in the film, it was Fox’s relationship with Boulanger.
Relationships play a central theme throughout the documentary, with scenes of Fox and his wife — who steals the spotlight in the best, most humorous way — to Fox composing songs with dear friends such as Rita Wilson and Jason Alexander. “We thematically wanted to talk about his love affair with music, what it brought him, what he brought to it, and his collaborations and friendships,” said Gold.
Killing Me Softly with His Songs will premiere on Tuesday, April 2 and will be available on Apple TV+ and Prime Video.
