Composer Ennio Morricone Dead at 91

Composer Ennio Morricone, responsible for soundtracks for films such as 1966’s The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, has been announced dead at age 91, per The New York Times. His lawyer confirmed his death, the reasons unknown at the current time, at an Italian hospital after checking in just a week ago after breaking his femur. Morricone composed the scores of a number of iconic films, and has worked with legendary directors from all over the world during his near sixty-year career. He was married to Maria Travia and had four children. 

Morricone’s first composition was Luciano Salce’s 1961 The Fascist, which was the beginning of an illustrious career that included 2007 Honorary Academy Award, 2016 Best Original Score Academy Award nod for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, and an induction to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Among countless others, Morricone composed the scores for films like Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987), Roland Joffé’s The Mission (1986), and John Boorman’s The Exorcist II ( 1977). Morricone is perhaps best known for his work with Sergio Leone in the 1960’s, creating masterful scores for all of Leone’s films since 1964, including Spaghetti Westerns like A Fistful of Dollars (1964), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), and My Name is Nobody (1973).

Morricone, who was classically trained and never learned to speak English, is remembered as one of the most prolific, unique, and successful film composers of all time, with scores ranging from classical, experimental, psychedelic, and more across all types of film genres.