Danny Elfman's Real Name: Danny Elfman

Quick answer: Danny Elfman is known professionally and in reference works as Danny Elfman. He is a film and concert composer and the former lead singer and songwriter of the Los Angeles band Oingo Boingo. He has scored many films for Tim Burton and wrote the theme for The Simpsons (official site).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress heading is "Elfman, Danny," with variants including "Elfman, Daniel" and "Elfman, Dan." Copyright records cited there also list Danny, Daniel, and D. Elfman. Published sources disagree on his birth date and birthplace. Several Library of Congress citations give May 29, 1953, but they split on place, with some naming Los Angeles and others Amarillo, Texas; one Rolling Stone encyclopedia citation gives May 19, 1953, in Los Angeles, and other references give 1954 or 1955. His official biography describes him as a native of Los Angeles who traveled widely as a young man and "grew up loving film music." Because the date and place are not settled in the sources used here, they are not treated as a single confirmed fact in the title.

Career highlights

His official biography says he was the lead singer and songwriter of Oingo Boingo for 17 years. He came to Tim Burton and Paul Reubens's attention and was asked to score Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The official site says he has been Burton's composer for more than 35 years, with 17 Burton films including Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, as well as the songs for The Nightmare Before Christmas, in which he also sang the part of Jack Skellington.

He has frequently collaborated with Sam Raimi, including on Spider-Man, and with Gus Van Sant on Good Will Hunting and Milk. He also wrote music for the Men in Black films and themes for The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives, Tales from the Crypt, and the Netflix series Wednesday. The official site records four Academy Award nominations, a Grammy Award in 1990, three Emmy Awards including one in 2023 for the Wednesday main title, and a Disney Legend Award in 2015. He has also written concert works and, in 2020, released the album Big Mess.

Name notes for searchers

Danny Elfman is the name used on his official site and in the Library of Congress authorized heading. Variants Daniel and Dan appear in some catalog and copyright records. Searchers looking for the Simpsons theme composer or the former Oingo Boingo singer are usually aiming at the same person.