[Jan. 31, 2010] - Legendary film composer John Barry, who wrote more than twelve scores to James Bond movies, died yesterday in New York of a heart attack, at aged 77.
Most of 007's most infectious music was penned by Barry, who wrote eleven scores for the James Bond series over more than a quarter century, including "Goldfinger," "From Russia with Love," "Thunderball," "You Only Live Twice," "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," "Diamonds Are Forever," "Moonraker," and "The Living Daylights."
However, Barry first worked on the 007 films beginning with the first film in the franchise, 1962's "Dr. No"; though uncredited, he collaborated on the score with composer Monty Norman. (Norman sued England's Sunday Times for reporting this transaction in 2001; he won the case. Barry was not sued.)
Though the sexy growls and gritty guitar licks Barry wrote for the Bond flicks is undoubtedly what most fans will remember, in fact it was other work that garnered him five Oscars and a Grammy, including the title song for the 1966 film "Born Free" as well as the lush scores for "The Lion in Winter" in 1968, 1985's "Out of Africa," and 1990's "Dances with Wolves."
A life writing film music seemed nearly preordained for Barry, who was born in York, England: his mother was a classical singer, while his father owned a chain of movie houses. He first studied piano before turning to the trumpet, and started playing professionally during his army service. He formed a jazz band, the John Berry Seven, in 1957, which served as the house band for a short-lived BBC live music program called Drumbeat in 1959; the band also recorded for EMI.
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by Anastasia Tsioulcas
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