best film/tv composers ever

1. Henry Mancini

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, but brought up in Pennsylvania, where he played the flute in a local band, as a youth, before sending some arrangements to Benny Goodman. Goodman offered him a job and, after serving in WWII, he joined the rearranged Glenn Miller band. In 1952, he was given a two-week ...

2. Lalo Schifrin

Music_department | Rush Hour

Immensely talented, Argentinian born pianist, conductor and composer who has written over 100 scores for both television & the cinema including the memorable themes to Mission: Impossible (1966), Mannix (1967), Starsky and Hutch (1975), Cool Hand Luke (1967), and Bullitt (1968). Schifrin has ...

3. Quincy Jones

Producer | The Color Purple

Considered to be one of the greatest minds in music and television history, Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. was born on March 14, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois. He is the son of Sarah Frances (Wells), a bank executive, and Quincy Delight Jones, Sr., a carpenter.

Jones found his love for music while he was ...

4. Ennio Morricone

Composer | The Hateful Eight

A classmate of director Sergio Leone with whom he would form one of the great director/composer partnerships (right up there with Eisenstein & Prokofiev, Hitchcock & Herrmann, Fellini & Rota), Ennio Morricone studied at Rome's Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he specialized in trumpet. His first ...

5. Maurice Jarre

Composer | Lawrence of Arabia

Unlike many musicians who started to learn music while still in their childhood, Maurice Jarre was already late in his teens when he discovered music and decided to make a career in that field. Against his father's will, he enrolled at Conservatoire de Paris where he studied percussions, ...

6. Morton Stevens

Music_department | Hawaii Five-O

Mort Stevens got his start in the 1950s as Sammy Davis Jr.'s arranger and conductor. He then went into composing various scores for network television, as well as becoming music supervisor for CBS in the 1960s. His many fine television scores include, "Hawaii Five-O" (Emmy winner), "Police Woman" ...

7. Howard Greenfield

Soundtrack | Deadpool

Howard Greenfield was born on March 15, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and writer, known for Deadpool (2016), Transsiberian (2008) and Grease 2 (1982). He died on March 4, 1986 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

8. Jack Keller

Music_department | The Monkees

Jack Keller was born on November 11, 1936 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for The Monkees (1965), Easy Rider (1969) and The Cable Guy (1996). He was married to Roberta Steiger. He died on April 1, 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

9. Nino Rota

Composer | The Godfather

Born in Milan in 1911 into a family of musicians, Nino Rota was first a student of Orefice and Pizzetti. Then, still a child, he moved to Rome where he completed his studies at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in 1929 with Alfredo Casella. In the meantime, he had become an 'enfant prodige', famous...

10. Jean-Pierre Bourtayre

Soundtrack | On connaît la chanson

Jean-Pierre Bourtayre was born on January 31, 1942 in Paris, France. He was a composer, known for Same Old Song (1997), Cross (1987) and Space Cobra (1982). He was married to Isabelle Appay and Brigitte Ansermet. He died on March 4, 2024 in Chatou, Yvelines, France.

11. Roger Pouly

Soundtrack | Polisse

Roger Pouly is known for Polisse (2011), L'île aux enfants (1974) and Arab on the City (2011).

12. Mark Thomas

Composer | Dog Soldiers

BAFTA winning and Emmy nominated composer Mark Thomas is one of the most sought-after film & tv drama composers in the UK today. Classically trained, Mark is stylistically innovative and always ready to experiment and embrace something new.

A first-choice for comedy film and tv drama, Mark's credits...

13. Pierre Arvay

Soundtrack | Tang lang

Pierre Arvay was born on October 21, 1924 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Pierre was a composer, known for Shaolin Mantis (1978), Horror Hospital (1973) and What the Future Holds (2018). Pierre died on August 18, 1980 in Bagnols-en-Forêt, Var, France.

14. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Soundtrack | Chocolat

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi was born on January 4, 1710 in Jesi, Papal State [now Marche, Italy]. He is known for Chocolat (2000), Sucker Punch (2011) and Mirror (1975). He died on March 16, 1736 in Pozzuoli, Kingdom of Naples [now Campania, Italy].

15. Edwin Astley

Soundtrack | The Saint

Britain's most iconic and prolific composer of music for TV action/adventure in the 1950's and 60's was born in Cheshire, the son of a builder. He dropped out of school to work for a gas oven manufacturer at the tender age of fourteen. Music was in his blood and jazz was a particularly strong ...

16. Laurie Johnson

Composer | Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Prolific British composer who has written scores for over four hundred film and television series. Very much of the old school of film composers, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and his scores reflect this classical training in their complexity. The trademark Johnson sound is the...

17. Ron Grainer

Composer | The Omega Man

Ron Grainer was one of the outstanding composers of music for British television. He was born in a small mining town called Atherton, Queensland, Australia on 11th August 1922, where his father owned the local milk bar. His mother played piano and Ron was on the keyboard from the age of two and ...

18. Monty Norman

Soundtrack | Dr. No

Monty Norman was born on April 4, 1928 in London, England, UK. He was a composer, known for Dr. No (1962), GoldenEye (1995) and Moonraker (1979). He was married to Rina Caesari and Diana Coupland. He died on July 11, 2022 in Slough, Berkshire, England, UK.

19. Boots Randolph

Soundtrack | V for Vendetta

Boots Randolph was born on June 3, 1927 in Paducah, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for V for Vendetta (2005), Before Sunrise (1995) and Bad Santa (2003). He was married to Dee Baker. He died on July 3, 2007 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

20. James Rich

Soundtrack | V for Vendetta

21. John Williams

Composer | Jurassic Park

As one of the best known, awarded, and financially successful composers in US history, John Williams is as easy to recall as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein, illustrating why he is "America's composer" time and again. With a massive list of awards that includes over 52 Oscar ...

22. Jerry Goldsmith

Composer | L.A. Confidential

Born on February 10, 1929, Jerry Goldsmith studied piano with Jakob Gimpel and composition, theory, and counterpoint with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He also attended classes in film composition given by Miklós Rózsa at the Univeristy of Southern California. In 1950, he was employed as a clerk ...

23. Alexander Courage

Music_department | Star Trek

Alexander Courage was born on December 10, 1919 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Star Trek (1966), Jurassic Park (1993) and Star Trek: Generations (1994). He was married to Shirley Pumpelly. He died on May 15, 2008 in Pacific Palisades, California, USA.

24. Francis Lai

Composer | Love Story

Francis Lai was born on April 26, 1932 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Love Story (1970), Stranger Than Fiction (2006) and Kingpin (1996). He was married to Dagmar Puetz. He died on November 7, 2018 in Paris, France.

25. Michel Legrand

Composer | The Thomas Crown Affair

Michel Legrand is a three-time Academy Award-winning French composer, conductor and pianist who composed over 200 film and television scores as well as recorded over a hundred albums of jazz, popular and classical music.

He was born on February 24, 1932, in Becon-les-Bruyeres, in the Paris suburbs, ...

26. Leonard Bernstein

Soundtrack | New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts

Renowned composer ("West Side Story", "Candide", "On The Town"), conductor, arranger, pianist, educator, author, TV/radio host, educated at the Boston Latin School and Harvard University (BA) with Walter Piston. Edward Burlingame Hill and A. Tillman Merritt. He studied piano with Helen Coates, ...

27. Richard Strauss

Soundtrack | 2001: A Space Odyssey

Richard Strauss was a German composer best known for symphonic poem 'Also sprach Zarathustra' (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1896) used as the music score in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by director Stanley Kubrick.

He was born Richard Georg Strauss on June 11, 1864, in Munich, Bavaria (now Germany). His ...

28. Serge Gainsbourg

Composer | Équateur

Serge Gainsbourg was born on April 2, 1928 in Paris, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Equator (1983), Je t'aime moi non plus (1976) and Death Proof (2007). He was married to Françoise Pancrazzi and Lise Levitzky. He died on March 2, 1991 in Paris, France.

29. Max Steiner

Composer | Casablanca

Austrian composer Max Steiner achieved legendary status as the creator of hundreds of classic American film scores. He was born Maximilian Raoul Walter Steiner in Vienna, Austria, the son of Marie Mizzi (Hasiba) and Gabor Steiner, an impresario, and the grandson of actor and theater director and ...

30. Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Composer | The Adventures of Robin Hood

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was the son of a well-known music critic. A child prodigy, he accompanied his father in playing four-handed piano arrangements by the age of five. By the age of eleven he drew his first plaudits from enthusiastic Viennese audiences (including the emperor Franz Josef) with ...

31. Leigh Harline

Composer | Pinocchio

Academy Award-winning composer (score, Pinocchio (1940), conductor, songwriter ("When You Wish Upon a Star" [Academy award, Best Song, 1940) and arranger Leigh Harine was educated at the University of Utah. He was a music student of J. Spencer Cornwall. He arranged the first transcontinental ...

32. Paul J. Smith

Composer | Pinocchio

Paul J. Smith was the son of Joseph J. and Anna M. Smith of Caldwell, Idaho. Joseph J. Smith was the band director at the College of Idaho for many years and was penned by Idaho's former governor Robert Smylie as "The Father of Music" in the Boise Valley, as he taught all musical instruments.

My ...

33. Frank Churchill

Composer | Dumbo

Academy Award-winning composer and songwriter ("Whistle While You Work", "Some Day My Prince Will Come"), and pianist, educated at the University of California. He was a pianist in film theatres, and then came to Hollywood under contract to Walt Disney. Joining ASCAP in 1938, his chief musical ...

34. Robert B. Sherman

Soundtrack | The Jungle Book

Robert B. Sherman was born just before Christmas in 1925 in New York City. Parents, Rosa & Al Sherman didn't know how they would pay the doctor and delivery costs. Fortunately, upon their arrival home from the hospital, Al discovered a large royalty check in the mail. Ironically, it was Al's song, ...

35. Richard M. Sherman

Music_department | Mary Poppins

Richard Morton Sherman was born in the spring of 1928 in New York City to Rosa and Al Sherman. Together with his older brother, Robert B. Sherman, the Sherman brothers would follow in their songwriting father's footsteps to form one of the most prolific, lauded and long lasting songwriting ...

36. Nacio Herb Brown

Soundtrack | Singin' in the Rain

In spite of the fact, that he only had been on a conservatory for only short time, he was a very successful popular composer, who wrote with lyricist and later producer Arthur Freed not only the songs for MGM musical and non-musical films, e.g. "Broadway Melody" for the movie "The Broadway Melody",...

37. Arthur Freed

Producer | An American in Paris

Producer, songwriter and author, brother to Ralph Freed, Walter and Ruth Freed. He was educated at the Phillips Exeter Academy, and became associated with Gus Edwards musical acts. He performed in vaudeville with Louis Silvers, with whom he wrote revues for New York restaurants. During World War I,...

38. Bernard Herrmann

Composer | North by Northwest

The man behind the low woodwinds that open Citizen Kane (1941), the shrieking violins of Psycho (1960), and the plaintive saxophone of Taxi Driver (1976) was one of the most original and distinctive composers ever to work in film. He started early, winning a composition prize at the age of 13 and ...

39. Harold Arlen

Music_department | The Wizard of Oz

No American has written more first-rate songs than Arlen. He grew up in a musical family (his father was a cantor), and disappointed but didn't surprise his parents by dropping out of high school to become a musician. A stint as pianist and singer with a dance band, the Buffalodians, allowed him to...

40. E.Y. Harburg

Music_department | The Wizard of Oz

One of the great lyricists of American song, Edgar Yipsel Harburg (born Isidore Hochberg) grew up in the working-class Jewish ghetto of Manhattan's Lower East Side. In high school, he befriended Ira Gershwin, later his collaborator on student literary ventures at City College of New York; both also...

41. Herbert Stothart

Music_department | The Wizard of Oz

Of Scottish and German ancestry, Herbert Stothart was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1885. At first, he was slated for a career as a teacher of history. However, he became enamored with music while singing in a school choir, and again, later, while attending the University of Wisconsin. There, he...

42. Richard Markowitz

Composer | Murder, She Wrote

Richard Markowitz was born on September 3, 1926 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He was a composer, known for Murder, She Wrote (1984), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Law and Harry McGraw (1987). He died on December 6, 1994 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

43. Leroy Shield

Soundtrack | Shanghai Knights

Versatile in many different musical fields, Leroy Shield started out as organist and pianist at the age of five. He made his professional début at 12 and at 15 became an arranger, composer and concert pianist. He accompanied opera singer Eva Gauthier during her American concert tours and pioneered ...

44. Alan Silvestri

Composer | The Polar Express

In his ongoing, decades-long career as a composer, Alan Silvestri has blazed an innovative trail with his exciting and melodic scores, winning the applause of Hollywood and movie audiences the world over. With a credit list of over 100 films Silvestri has composed some of the most recognizable and ...

45. Vic Mizzy

Composer | The Addams Family

Vic Mizzy was born on January 9, 1916 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for The Addams Family (1964), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and Deliver Us from Evil (2014). He died on October 17, 2009 in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California, USA.

46. Allyn Ferguson

Music_department | Dune

Allyn Ferguson was born on October 18, 1924 in San Jose, California, USA. He was a composer, known for Dune (1984), Charlie's Angels (2000) and Charlie's Angels (2019). He was married to Joline Clary. He died on June 23, 2010 in Westlake Village, California, USA.

47. Jack Elliott

Soundtrack | Charlie's Angels

To say that Jack Elliott was a versatile and talented musical composer, arranger and producer would be an understatement. Blessed with an acclaimed career spanning nearly four decades, his name has become synonymous with music in virtually every medium - from live performances to film to television...

48. Francis Ford Coppola

Producer | Apocalypse Now

Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in a New York suburb in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola (née Pennino), had been an actress. Francis Ford Coppola graduated ...

49. Carmine Coppola

Composer | Apocalypse Now

Composer, conductor, arranger and flautist, educated at the Manhattan School of Music (BA, MA) and Juilliard (on scholarship) (MM). He was first flautist for Radio City Music Hall from 1934 to 1936, the Detroit Symphony from 1936 to 1941, the NBC Toscanini Orchestra from 1942 to 1948 and staff ...

50. John Carpenter

Writer | The Fog

John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York, to mother Milton Jean (Carter) and father Howard Ralph Carpenter. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father, a professor, was head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He attended Western Kentucky ...

51. Alfred Newman

Music_department | The King and I

Alfred Newman is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music.

From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Academy Awards and was nominated 45 times, contributing to the Newmans being the most nominated ...

52. Cliff Friend

Soundtrack | Bad Lieutenant

Composer, songwriter ("The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"), author and pianist, educated at the Cincinnati College and Conservatory. He was a test pilot at Wright Field. After three years as accompanist to Harry Richman in vaudeville, he was featured in English music halls, and later throughout the ...

53. Dave Franklin

Soundtrack | Tommy Boy

Tin Pan Alley lyricist and composer, best remembered for co-writing the Looney Tunes theme song "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" in collaboration with Cliff Friend. Franklin became an accomplished professional pianist by the age of thirteen, employed by various New York publishing houses. He later ...

54. Charles Tobias

Soundtrack | Bad Lieutenant

American lyricist, songwriter, radio pioneer and music publisher. His brothers, Harry and Henry, were also active in the music business. Tobias began as a singer in vaudeville. In 1923, he set up his own publishing firm and began to work in Tin Pan Alley. He contributed scores and songs to several ...

55. Murray Mencher

Soundtrack | Space Jam

American pianist, lyricist and songwriter, chiefly remembered for co-writing the Merrie Melodies theme song "Merrily We Roll Along" (with Charles Tobias and Eddie Cantor). Mencher began his career in vaudeville and later worked as a pianist and staff composer for several music publishing houses. ...

56. Eddie Cantor

Soundtrack | Kid Millions

Singer, songwriter ("Merrily We Roll Along"), comedian, author and actor, educated in public schools. He made his first public appearance in Vaudeville in 1907 at New York's Clinton Music Hall, then became a member of the Gus Edwards Gang, later touring vaudeville with Lila Lee as the team Cantor &...

57. George Aliceson Tipton

Composer | The Golden Girls

George Aliceson Tipton was born on January 23, 1932. He was a composer, known for The Golden Girls (1985), Badlands (1973) and Phantom of the Paradise (1974). He died on February 12, 2016 in the USA.

58. Paul Williams

Soundtrack | Phantom of the Paradise

Known for timeless classics such as "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Evergreen," "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song," and "Rainbow Connection," Paul Williams is responsible for what will remain part of our popular culture for many years to come. His music has been recorded by some ...

59. Rachel Elkind

Soundtrack | Ready Player One

Rachel Elkind was born on February 23, 1939 in San Francisco, California, USA. She is a composer, known for Ready Player One (2018), The Shining (1980) and Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (2006).

60. Wendy Carlos

Soundtrack | Ready Player One

Wendy Carlos, one of the great innovators in synthesized and electronic music, was born as Walter Carlos in Rhode Island on November 14, 1939. She underwent a sex-change operation in 1972, details of which she revealed during a surprise Playboy interview in 1979. Walter's last credited release is "...

61. Mike Oldfield

Composer | The Killing Fields

Mike Oldfield was born on May 15, 1953 in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK. He is a composer and actor, known for The Killing Fields (1984), Weird Science (1985) and The Exorcist (1973).

62. Elmer Bernstein

Composer | Far from Heaven

Elmer Bernstein was educated at the Walden School and New York University. He served in the US Army Air Corps in World War II, writing scores for the service radio unit. He also wrote and arranged musical numbers for Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band. A prolific and respected film music composer, ...

63. Charles Gounod

Soundtrack | Chronicle

Charles Gounod was born on June 17, 1818 in Paris, France. He was a composer, known for Chronicle (2012), The American (2010) and 28 Days Later (2002). He was married to Anna Zimmermann. He died on October 18, 1893 in Saint-Cloud, Seine-et-Oise [now Hauts-de-Seine], France.

64. Marius Constant

Soundtrack | The Manchurian Candidate

Romanian-born, Paris-based avant-garde composer and conductor, a student of Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen. His "Étrange No. 3" and "Milieu No. 2" (for electric guitar, bongo, saxophone and French horns) were famously spliced together to create the iconic theme for Rod Serling's The Twilight ...

65. Dominic Frontiere

Music_department | Color of Night

Dominic Carmen Frontiere, 86, Emmy and Golden Globe winning film and television composer, former head of music at Paramount Pictures, passed away in Tesuque, New Mexico on 21 December 2017. He is survived by his wife Robin and their children Emily, Joseph, Nicholas and Sofia, as well as daughter ...

66. Charles Fox

Soundtrack | National Lampoon's European Vacation

Born in the Bronx, 1940. Graduated High School of Music & Art in New York, then studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.

Before moving to Hollywood, wrote and played Latin music for Salsa legends including Tito Puente, Ray Baretto and Joe Quijano.

In addition to composing over 100 movie ...

67. Laurence Rosenthal

Composer | Clash of the Titans

Composer Laurence Rosenthal was born in Detroit, Michigan. He studied piano and composition at the Eastman School of Music and later with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. His symphonic compositions have been premiered by Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philarmonic, among others. He has composed ...

68. Franck Pourcel

Soundtrack | Goodfellas

Franck Pourcel was his real name: last name originally from Italy, first name a tribute to the composer, César Franck. He was born in Marseilles on August 11, 1913. His father was a technician but also a musician in the Navy in Marseilles. At six years old, he began learning music and his father ...

69. Dimitri Tiomkin

Soundtrack | High Noon

Dimitri Tiomkin was a Russian Jewish composer who emigrated to America and became one of the most distinguished and best-loved music writers of Hollywood. He won a hallowed place in the pantheon of the most successful and productive composers in American film history, earning himself four Oscars ...

70. Claude Bolling

Soundtrack | The Holiday

Claude Bolling was born on April 10, 1930 in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was a composer and actor, known for The Holiday (2006), Joker (2019) and He Died with His Eyes Open (1985). He was married to Irène Dervize-Sadyker. He died on December 29, 2020 in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

71. Michel Magne

Music_department | Gigot

Michel Magne was born on March 20, 1930 in Lisieux, Calvados, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Gigot (1962), S.A.S. San Salvador (1982) and The Sleeping Car Murder (1965). He died on December 19, 1984 in Cergy-Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France.

72. Maurice Thiriet

Composer | Les enfants du paradis

Maurice Thiriet was born on May 2, 1906 in Meulan-en-Yvelines, Yvelines, France. He was a composer, known for Children of Paradise (1945), Les Visiteurs du Soir (1942) and Lucrèce Borgia (1953). He died on September 28, 1972 in Bracquemont, Seine-Maritime, France.

73. Georges Van Parys

Composer | Les diaboliques

Georges Van Parys was born on June 7, 1902 in Paris, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Diabolique (1955), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Frida (2002). He was married to Blanca de Selva y de Serigny. He died on January 28, 1971 in Paris, France.

74. Jean Marion

Composer | Les mystères de Paris

Jean Marion was born on May 6, 1912 in Paris, France. She was a composer, known for Les mystères de Paris (1962), Captain Blood (1960) and The Miracle of the Wolves (1961). She was married to Anne-Marie Hunebelle. She died on March 12, 1967 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.

75. Joseph Kosma

Soundtrack | The Score

Joseph Kosma was born in Budapest. He took an interest in music at a very young age, writing an opera called "Noel dans les Tranchées" as a teenager. One of his greatest loves in Budapest was the music of Bela Bartok. Finding the political atmosphere to be more and more oppressive in Budapest, ...

76. Georges Auric

Composer | Le salaire de la peur

At the least George Auric was a fine musician, having been a child prodigy, but he was much more in the musical world. He studied under Vincent D'Indy (a devotee of Cesar Franck and the German school of symphonic composition) and attended the Paris Conservatory (1920). By the time he was 20 he had ...

77. Raymond Lefebvre

Soundtrack | Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez

Raymond Lefebvre was born on November 20, 1929 in Calais, Pas-de-Calais, France. He was a composer and actor, known for The Gendarme of Saint-Tropez (1964). He was married to Nicole Bernard-Savary. He died on June 27, 2008 in Seine-Port, Seine-et-Marne, France.

78. Jacques Loussier

Soundtrack | Inglourious Basterds

Jacques Loussier was born on October 26, 1934 in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Inglourious Basterds (2009), Dark of the Sun (1968) and The Informer (1962). He was married to Elizabeth Note and Sylvie de Tournemire. He died on March 5, 2019 in Blois, ...

79. Michel Colombier

Soundtrack | Man on Fire

Michel Colombier was born on May 23, 1939 in Lyon, Rhône, France. He was a composer, known for Man on Fire (2004), The Golden Child (1986) and Against All Odds (1984). He was married to Dana Colombier. He died on November 14, 2004 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

80. Takeo Watanabe

Soundtrack | Lost in Translation

Takeo Watanabe was born on April 16, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a composer and actor, known for Lost in Translation (2003), The Valiant Red Pony (1968) and Mobile Suit Gundam I (1981). He died on June 2, 1989 in Tokyo, Japan.

81. David Rose

Soundtrack | Falling Down

David Rose was born on June 15, 1910 in London, England, UK. He was a composer and actor, known for Falling Down (1993), Bonanza (1959) and Lionheart (1990). He was married to Betty Bartholomew, Judy Garland and Martha Raye. He died on August 23, 1990 in Burbank, California, USA.

82. Morton Gould

Soundtrack | To the Wonder

Composer ("American Salute", "Pavanne"), conductor, pianist and arranger, educated at New York University and a music student of Abby Whiteside and Vincent Jones. At six, he had his first composition published ("Just Six"), and thereafter concertized until age 17. He was a staff arranger for Radio ...

83. Raymond Bernard

Composer | L'ennemi dans l'ombre

Raymond Bernard (not to be confused with the famous director of the same name) was a conductor, arranger and composer. After debuting in Ray Ventura's band, he became a member of the orchestra accompanying the circus shows in the early days of French television ("La piste aux étoiles" (1945)_). He ...

84. Nelson Riddle

Music_department | The Great Gatsby

Versatile American arranger/conductor who started as a trombonist with several big bands, including Tommy Dorsey. In a long, distinguished career, he not only scored numerous films and television shows, but made many now-legendary recordings in collaboration with such people as Rosemary Clooney, ...

85. Billy May

Soundtrack | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Distinguished multiple Grammy-winning trumpeter, arranger, conductor and songwriter whose instantly-recognizable style remains a longtime trademark. The son of a roofer and a youthful asthmatic, his physician advised therapy through playing the tuba. In his school band, he developed an appreciation...

86. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Soundtrack | Smurfs

Rimsky-Korsakov was a navy officer but soon discovered his love for music. Since 1861 he belonged to the group of Balakirew but later he returned to the traditional way of composing. He combined uniquely the Russian folk songs with the music of the Orthodox Church. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the first ...

87. Al Hirt

Soundtrack | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Al Hirt was born on November 7, 1922 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), 21 Jump Street (2012) and The Green Hornet (1966). He was married to Beverly Essel , Zide Bowers Jahncke and Mary Patureau. He died on April 27, 1999 in New Orleans, Louisiana, ...

88. Lionel Newman

Music_department | Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Lionel Newman was the youngest of a triumvirate of accomplished virtuosos, composers and conductors, who dominated the music department at 20th Century Fox for more than four decades. Already a highly regarded pianist by the age of 15, Lionel went on the national vaudeville circuit as accompanist ...

89. Oliver Nelson

Music_department | Ultimo tango a Parigi

Oliver Nelson began playing piano at age six and picked up the saxophone when he was eleven. Later he continued his musical education at Washington University in St. Louis, as well as studying with composer Elliott Carter. Nelson gained practical experience by playing in bands with Erskine Hawkins, ...