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Stephin Merritt

  • Composer
  • Actor
  • Music Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Stephin Merritt in Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields (2010)
A decade-in-the-making documentary on songwriter Stephin Merritt and his band, the Magnetic Fields.
Play trailer2:24
Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields (2010)
1 Video
1 Photo
Born to American beatnik parents Linda 'Alix' Merritt and folk musician Scott Fagan, Stephin Merritt formed and plays principal roles in his band The Magnetic Fields, as well as side-project bands The 6ths, The Gothic Archies and Future Bible Heroes, writing and composing nearly five hundred songs as of 2018.

He briefly used the name The Baudelaire Memorial Orchestra as an attribution for a song written for Lemony Snicket's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events', entitled 'Scream and Run Away'. Further music was recorded for the audio book versions of the series and is attributed to The Gothic Archies. The Tragic Treasury was released by Nonesuch Records in October 2006 along with the thirteenth and final book of the series.

Under his own name, he recorded and released the sound-tracks to the films 'Eban and Charley' and 'Pieces of April'. The soundtrack to the Nickelodeon show 'The Adventures of Pete & Pete' featured several of his songs.

He and director Chen Shi-Zheng have collaborated on three pieces of musical theatre; The Orphan of Zhao (2003), Peach Blossom Fan (2004) and My Life as a Fairy Tale (2005). Selected tracks from these works have been released on Nonesuch Records under the title Showtunes.

Additionally, he is one-third of the infrequent, live-only ensemble the Three Terrors, whose other principal members include 69 Love Songs's Dudley Klute and L.D. Beghtol. Past themes of these performances have included French pop music, movie themes (including the title song from Deep Throat), intoxication and New York City. Kenny Mellman (of Kiki & Herb), James Jacobs, Daniel Handler, Jon DeRosa and others have performed with The Three Terrors at these sporadic gala events.

Merritt wrote and sang 'I'm in a Lonely Way' in a television commercial for Volvo that aired in the summer and fall of 2007. He also performed 'The Wheels on the Car'.

Merritt penned the music and lyrics for a 2009 Off-Broadway stage musical adaptation of 'Coraline', a novel by Neil Gaiman. In the M.C.C. Theater production, his music was performed by a piano 'orchestra' - complete with a traditional piano, a toy piano and a prepared piano (a piano that has had its sound altered by attaching objects - such as tin foil, rubber bands and playing cards - to the strings).

He produced a score for the 1916 film '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' that was performed at the Castro Theatre, San Francisco on May 4, 2010 as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival.
BornFebruary 9, 1965
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BornFebruary 9, 1965
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Known for

    Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, and Susan Sarandon in Shall We Dance? (2004)
    Shall We Dance?
    6.2
    • Soundtrack
    • 2004
    The End of the Tour (2015)
    The End of the Tour
    7.2
    • Soundtrack
    • 2015
    Michael Ironside, Brittany Allen, and Melanie Papalia in Extraterrestrial (2014)
    Extraterrestrial
    5.0
    • Soundtrack
    • 2014
    Oliver Platt, Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, and Derek Luke in Pieces of April (2003)
    Pieces of April
    7.0
    • Composer
    • 2003

    Credits

    IMDbPro

    Composer



    • Staging Film (2017)
      Staging Film
      TV Series
      • Composer
      • 2017
    • Virgil Normal: It Isn't Formal (2017)
      Virgil Normal: It Isn't Formal
      Music Video
      • composer
      • 2017
    • Saving My Tomorrow (2014)
      Saving My Tomorrow
      6.4
      TV Series
      • Composer
      • 2016
    • Catherine Deneuve and Gustave Kervern in In the Courtyard (2014)
      In the Courtyard
      6.3
      • Composer
      • 2014
    • Ben Schwartz and Erick Chavarria in I'm a Mitzvah (2014)
      I'm a Mitzvah
      7.6
      Short
      • Composer
      • 2014
    • The Magnetic Fields: Andrew in Drag
      Music Video
      • Composer
      • 2012
    • Volvo: Showroom
      Video
      • Composer
      • 2007
    • Volvo: Wheels
      Video
      • Composer
      • 2007
    • Oliver Platt, Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, and Derek Luke in Pieces of April (2003)
      Pieces of April
      7.0
      • Composer
      • 2003
    • Eban and Charley (2000)
      Eban and Charley
      5.6
      • Composer
      • 2000

    Actor



    • The Fungies (2020)
      The Fungies
      6.6
      TV Series
      • Hogan
      • Bug
      • 2021
    • The Magnetic Fields: Andrew in Drag
      Music Video
      • Stephin Merritt
      • 2012
    • You Are My All
      Short
      • Keeton (as Stephen Merritt)
      • 2012

    Music Department



    • Jeff & Some Aliens (2017)
      Jeff & Some Aliens
      7.9
      TV Series
      • theme song performer
      • theme song performance
      • 2017
    • Brendan Gleeson and Peter McDonald in I Went Down (1997)
      I Went Down
      6.7
      • composer: song "Two Characters in Search of a Country Song"
      • 1997

    Videos1

    Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields
    Trailer 2:24
    Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields

    Personal details

    • Official site
      • News, tour dates etc.
    • Alternative name
      • Stephen Merritt
    • Height
      • 5′ 3″ (1.60 m)
    • Born
      • February 9, 1965
      • Yonkers, New York, USA
    • Other works
      Solo artist as well as founder and key member of the following bands: 'The Magnetic Fields', 'The 6ths', 'Future Bible Heroes' and 'The Gothic Archies'.
    • Publicity listings
      • 1 Article

    Did you know

    • Trivia
      Has written and published more than 500 songs.
    • Quotes
      The music I make is nonmacho, somewhat quiet, quite polite, and rather bisexual.
    • Trademarks
        Untrained bass singing voice.

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