HIS mum was a pianist and his dad owned cinemas – so John Barry’s career seemed almost pre-ordained.
But no one could have predicted that this lad from Yorkshire would take Hollywood by storm, racking up five Oscars for the most iconic movie scores of all time.
Yesterday the world of showbiz paid tribute to the genius who composed the score for 11 Bond movies, including Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, Thunderball and You Only Live Twice.
Barry – who also produced the haunting soundtracks for Born Free, The Ipcress File, Out of Africa, Zulu and Midnight Cowboy – died from a heart attack in New York at 77.
Born John Barry Prendergast in York in 1933, he learned the piano and trumpet from an early age.
After serving in the Army he formed a rock band – John Barry and the Seven – with some of his fellow ex-soldiers. They had a Top 10 hit with Farrago in 1958. Barry’s work on TV series Drumbeat – when his group backed pop star Adam Faith – led to him being enlisted for the singer’s first movie role, Beat Girl.
But his big break came in 1962, when the producers of the first Bond movie, Dr No, approached him to be involved with the song that would become the theme – although the writing credit belonged to composer Monty Norman.
The huge success of the instantly-recognisable score was followed by compositions for the next two 007 films, From Russia with Love and Goldfinger – famously sung by Dame Shirley Bassey. Legendary Italian director Federico Fellini once said the Goldfinger theme was his favourite movie score.
Renowned for his lush strings, orchestral swells and elegant melodies Barry won Academy Awards for Born Free (two) Dances With Wolves, Lion in Winter and Out of Africa.
He never won anything for the Bond films, although he did get an OBE in 1999 for services to music.
Stars last night described him as a “true legend”. Close pal Michael Crawford, said he had written “some of the most memorable and beautiful scores you would ever wish to hear”.
There was always something absolutely delicious about the wonderful orchestral string arrangements at the beginning of the great bond films. Considering the state of much modern music, one might say that great movie scores are the classical music of the age.
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