Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918– October 14, 1990) was an American composer and conductor. He was born Louis Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts to Ukrainian Jewish parents. He is best known for conducting the New York Philharmonic and composing West Side Story and Candide.
Bernstein was gay.
He was a heavy smoker who had emphysema. He died of a heart attack in New York City.
Influences
Bernstein stated composers like Aaron Copland, Dimitri Mitropoulos, George Gershwin, Gustav Mahler, Kurt Weill, Sergei Koussevitzky, Randall Thompson, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Robert Schumann as influences.