Born Free

Born Free is the biography of Elsa the lioness. This book was written by Joy Adamson (1910-80), the wife of George Adamson (1906-89), who worked as a game warden in Kenya and who later became one of the founders of the modern wildlife conservation movement. The couple met and married while she was on safari; George was Joy's third husband. In 1956, George Adamson shot and killed a lioness as it attacked him; it was only afterwards that he realized the cat was protecting her cubs. Adamson took them home with him; two were later sent to a zoo, but the third, Elsa, was raised by the couple as a domestic pet. She was eventually released into the wild, but returned to her mistress with three cubs in tow. Joy published Elsa's story in 1960, and the semi-documentary type film featuring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers was released in 1966. Both the Adamsons suffered violent deaths: Joy was murdered by a former employee, and George was shot dead by poachers.

The theme song for the film was commissioned from composer John Barry (of James Bond fame) and lyricist Don Black. As well as becoming a minor hit for Monro, it won the 1966 Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was also a hit for Roger Williams.

The sheet music was published by Chappell of London at 20p, copyright 1966 by Screen Gems - Columbia Music, New York. It lists the following performers in order: John Barry on United Artists Ray Conniff on CBS Mantovani on Decca Matt Monro on Parlophone Frank Sinatra on Reprise Andy Williams on CBS Nelson Riddle on EMI James Last on Polydor.