Born "Isadore Soifer" in Chester, Pennsylvania, Alex North was an original composer probably even by the classical music standards of the day. However, he managed to integrate his modernism into typical film music leitmotif structure, rich with themes. One of these became the famous song, "Unchained Melody". Nominated for 15 Oscars but unsuccessful each time, Alex North and Ennio Morricone are the only film composers to receive the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award.

His most popular film scores of those many not already mentioned are The Rainmaker (1956), Spartacus (1960), The Misfits (1961), Cleopatra (1963), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The Devil's Brigade (1968), and the rejected score for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). His classical works include a Rhapsody for Piano, Trumpet obbligato and Orchestra.