Bernard was born in India, the son of a British army officer, but was
moved to England as a small child for his health. He was educated at
Wellington College, where the future actor
Christopher Lee was a classmate.
Fortuitously, because Lee was to star in scores of horror films for
Hammer Studios, for which James Bernard wrote the scores. Bernard's
first major break as a composer was at the age of 17 when he met
Benjamin Britten and
Peter Pears, for whom Bernard later wrote a
song cycle.
