---
name: "Michael Penn"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/michael-penn"
fi1m_id: "michael-penn"
imdb_id: "nm0005304"
tmdb_id: 40468
wikidata_id: "Q1345514"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "1 August 1958"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-23T04:10:32.857620+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Michael Penn

## Identity

Michael Penn

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/michael-penn
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** michael-penn
- **IMDb ID:** nm0005304
- **TMDB ID:** 40468
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1345514
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Penn, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1345514, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005304/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/40468

Composer. Born 1 August 1958 in New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 1 August 1958, New York City, New York, USA
- **Active:** 1997–2014
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 acting, 1 crew
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 86 (1), 2010s 74 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Penn, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1345514, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005304/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/40468

## Biography

Michael Penn is an American composer, musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for scoring Paul Thomas Anderson's early films *Hard Eight* (1996) and *Boogie Nights* (1997).

Born in New York City in 1958, Penn released his debut album *March* in 1989. Its lead single 'No Myth' reached the US Top 40. He has since composed scores for films including *The Anniversary Party* (2001), *The Last Kiss* (2006) and *Sunshine Cleaning* (2008), and for television series such as *Masters of Sex* and *Good Girls*. Penn is married to singer-songwriter Aimee Mann.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (2)

### Performed in (1)

- *Boogie Nights* (1997), Fi1m 86, as Nick the Engineer — [page](https://film.one/film/boogie-nights.md)

### Crew (1) — the average rests on these

- *Masters of Sex* (2013), Fi1m 74, Music, Original Music Composer — [page](https://film.one/tv/masters-of-sex.md)

## Complete filmography (24)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Fairyland* (2025), Original Music Composer
- *Pee-wee as Himself* (2025), series, Original Music Composer
- *I Love You Forever* (2025), Original Music Composer
- *Hollywood Stargirl* (2022), Executive Music Producer
- *Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein* (2019), Original Music Composer
- *Boundaries* (2018), Original Music Composer
- *Good Girls* (2018), series, Original Music Composer
- *Carrie Pilby* (2017), Original Music Composer
- *Barefoot* (2014), Original Music Composer
- *Masters of Sex* (2013), series, Original Music Composer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/masters-of-sex.md)
- *Skateland* (2011), Original Music Composer
- *That Evening Sun* (2009), Original Music Composer
- *The One Man Beatles* (2009), Actor
- *Solitary Man* (2009), Original Music Composer
- *American Teen* (2008), Original Music Composer
- *Sunshine Cleaning* (2008), Original Music Composer
- *The Last Kiss* (2006), Original Music Composer
- *Melvin Goes to Dinner* (2003), Music
- *The Anniversary Party* (2001), Original Music Composer
- *Boogie Nights* (1997), as Nick the Engineer · Original Music Composer — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/boogie-nights.md)
- *Hard Eight* (1997), Original Music Composer
- *Pop-Up Video* (1996), series, Actor
- *Solitaire’s Sanctuary* (1987), Music
- *Programme 4*, as Additional Music

## Gallery

- ![Michael Penn](https://film.one/media/person/87115/gallery-0747d3abfa40.jpg) Michael Penn — Cyn Graham Chepigan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Michael_Penn_performing_in_2007.jpg/1280px-Michael_Penn_performing_in_2007.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Michael Penn](https://film.one/media/person/87115/gallery-fae35a5b886f.jpg) Michael Penn — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/michael-penn