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Express Tribune
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Mission: Impossible' composer dies at 93
Famed composer Lalo Schifrin, who created themes for a host of hit Hollywood films and television shows – including the instantly recognisable Mission: Impossible score – died Thursday aged 93, US media reported. Born in Argentina, Schifrin blended the influences of his classical and symphonic training with jazz and modern sounds in his diverse and vast oeuvre, which includes the scores for around 100 films, some of them the best-known of their generation. His death was confirmed by his son, Ryan Schifrin, to several entertainment trade publications. Schifrin's work for film includes The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and Bullitt (1968), both with Steve McQueen, Paul Newman's Cool Hand Luke (1968), and Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry (1971). He also created the score to the 1960s Mission: Impossible television series, which inspired the theme of the massive film franchise starring Tom Cruise. A pipe-smoker in his younger years and bespectacled with a mane of silver hair later, he was also a highly respected international orchestra conductor and jazz pianist. Boris Claudio Schifrin was born in Buenos Aires on June 21, 1932 into a musical family, his father Luis Schifrin being the concert master of the city's Philharmonic Orchestra for 25 years. He learned piano at a young age, developing an extensive knowledge of classical music. His introduction in his teens to jazz and the American sound – through its greats such as Charlie Parker, George Gershwin and Louis Armstrong – was like a conversion, he would say later, and set his life on a new course. Schifrin moved to the United States in 1958 and became a US citizen over a decade later. In Hollywood, television producer Bruce Geller asked him to create scores for his television series Mission: Impossible (1966) and Mannix (1969). Schifrin received several Academy Award nominations for his film work including for Cool Hand Luke. In 2018, he received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement, presented by Eastwood. afp
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lalo Schifrin, Acclaimed Composer of ‘Mission: Impossible' and ‘Mannix' Themes, Dies at 93
Lalo Schifrin, the six-time Oscar-nominated composer, pianist and conductor renowned for his electric, jazz-infused themes and music for Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Starsky & Hutch and Bullitt, died Thursday. He was 93. Schifrin, who received an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards in November 2018, died of pneumonia at a hospital in Los Angeles, his son Ryan Schifrin told The Hollywood Reporter. He lived for the past few decades in a Beverly Hills home once owned by Groucho Marx. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Squid Game' Finale Ends With Surprise Hollywood Star Cameo Lorde Summer Officially Arrives With New Album 'Virgin' Rick Hurst, Actor on 'The Dukes of Hazzard,' Dies at 79 A native of Argentina whose father was the Buenos Aires Philharmonic concert master for more than three decades, Schifrin was trained in the world of classical music before being hooked on American jazz when he was a teenager. He artfully blended the two genres, and the combustible energy and rhythmic vitality of his compositions were especially well-suited for action-suspense movies and TV shows. The workaholic Schifrin received Oscar nominations for his scores for Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Fox (1968), Voyage of the Damned (1976), The Amityville Horror (1979) and The Sting II (1983) and for the song 'People Alone' from The Competition (1980). He scored Dirty Harry (1971) and the sequels Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983) and The Dead Pool (1988), all starring Clint Eastwood — the filmmaker presented him with his Oscar — and served as the composer on all three of the Rush Hour films. Schifrin had Ray Charles perform with a symphony orchestra for The Cincinnati Kid (1965), and he provided the classic saxophone-laden car-chase music for Steve McQueen's Bullitt (1968). His résumé also included work on Coogan's Bluff (1968) — that kicked off his long association with Eastwood and director Don Siegel — Kelly's Heroes (1970), Charley Varrick (1973), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Telefon (1977), The Nude Bomb (1980), Black Moon Rising (1986), Money Talks (1997), Something to Believe In (1998), Tango (1998), Bringing Down the House (2003) and The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004). His cool, percolating Mission: Impossible theme, set to an unusual 5/4 time signature and commissioned for the fabled CBS espionage drama that bowed in September 1966, netted Schifrin one of his four Grammy Awards and one of his four Emmy noms. It still serves as a vital link to the Tom Cruise movie franchise. Schifrin said it took him just three minutes to put the theme together, and he composed it without seeing any footage from the show. 'Orchestration's not the problem for me,' he told the New York Post in 2015. 'It's like writing a letter. When you write a letter, you don't have to think what grammar or what syntaxes you're going to use, you just write a letter. And that's the way it came. 'Bruce Geller, who was the producer of the series, put together the pilot and came to me and said, 'I want you to write something exciting, something that when people are in the living room and go into the kitchen to have a soft drink, and they hear it, they will know what it is. I want it to be identifiable, recognizable and a signature.' And this is what I did.' The Mission: Impossible opening credits showed a match lighting a fuse that burned superimposed over quickly-cut scenes from the episode. Schifrin wrote music for several episodes as well, and an M:I album proved quite successful. An inspired Bruce Lee worked out to the show's score in his gym in Hong Kong before signing Schifrin as the composer and orchestrator on Enter the Dragon (1973). As a bonus, Lee gave the musician his first martial arts lessons, for free. Schifrin concocted a jazz waltz in 3/4 time for the theme to the Mike Connors series Mannix — also produced by Geller — and played the Moog synthesizer on the opening music for another 1960s' CBS drama, Medical Center. Schifrin also was responsible for the themes for T.H.E. Cat, Petrocelli, Starsky & Hutch, Bronk and Most Wanted. And his 'Tar Sequence' music from Cool Hand Luke was adopted by ABC affiliates for their Eyewitness News broadcasts. Born Boris Claudio Schifrin on June 21, 1932, he began playing the piano at age 5. His classmates exposed him to jazz records when he was about 16, and he became 'totally absorbed in that music,' he recalled in a 2008 interview for the Archive of American Television. 'It was like an illumination, a very important moment in my life. I converted to jazz.' However, jazz was considered 'immoral' back then, and he had to listen on the sly. He studied music and law for four years at his hometown University of Buenos Aires, then received a scholarship to the Paris Conservatory of Music in 1952, studying classical music under famed composer Olivier Messiaen. 'I had a double life,' he told The Telegraph in 2004. 'I would study at the Conservatory during the day and play in jazz bands at night in places like the Club Saint-Germain. Messiaen didn't like jazz, but he was a very nice man, a Catholic mystic.' In 1956, Schifrin returned to Buenos Aires, formed his own jazz band and got involved in writing music for TV and radio programs. A year later, he won Argentina's equivalent of an Oscar for his score for El Jefe. With Dizzy Gillespie and his all-star band (including Quincy Jones on first trumpet and Phil Woods on alto sax) in town for a concert at the U.S. Embassy, Schifrin conducted his group from behind the piano during a reception to honor the jazz great. The trumpeter approached Schifrin and asked, 'Do you write all these charts, all these arrangements?' he recalled. 'I said yes. 'Would you like to come to the United States?' I thought it was a joke.' Schifrin arrived in New York City in 1958 and played piano in a Mexican restaurant until he was invited by Xavier Cugat to write arrangements for his show and tour with his orchestra. He finally reconnected and signed with Gillespie in 1960, performing on a hit album, Gillespiana, for Verve Records, which was later purchased by MGM. He also arranged jazz LPs for the likes of Stan Getz and Sarah Vaughan. Inspired by the movie work of such composers as Henry Mancini and Johnny Mandel, Schifrin employed his MGM connections and headed to California in 1963. His first Hollywood gig was for the African-set film Rhino! (1964), and he scored several projects under Stanley Wilson at Universal Pictures, including the 1966 bomb-on-an-airplane NBC telefilm The Doomsday Flight, written by Rod Serling. Schifrin also scored David Wolper documentaries, including The Making of a President: 1964 (1966), for which he received an Emmy nom; The World of Jacques Cousteau (1966); and The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1968). Throughout his career, Schifrin conducted a number of the world's top orchestras, including those in London, Vienna, Los Angeles, Israel, Mexico City, Houston, Atlanta and Buenos Aires. In 1987, he was appointed musical director for the Paris Philharmonic Orchestra, which was formed for the purpose of recording music for films, and held the post for five years. Schifrin then conducted a 1995 symphonic celebration in Marseilles, France, to mark the 100th anniversary of the invention of movies by the Lumiere brothers. His longtime involvement in the jazz and classical worlds came together quite nicely in 1993 when he was featured as pianist and conductor for the first of his several 'Jazz Meets the Symphony' albums. Schifrin, who received the BMI Lifetime Achievement Award in 1988, recorded dozens of albums, many on the Adelph Records label run by his wife, Donna. He also was the principal arranger for The Three Tenors' World Cup concerts. He recently completed a composition for Argentina that was performed in his native country. In addition to his wife and son Ryan, a writer-director (Abominable), survivors include another son, Will Schifrin, a TV writer (The Fairly OddParents); a daughter, Frances; and grandchildren Dylan, Jonah, Jack and Emma. 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India.com
a day ago
- Entertainment
- India.com
Lalo Schifrin, Legendary Composer Behind Iconic Mission Impossible Theme, Passes Away At 93
Grammy-winning composer of 'Mission: Impossible' Lalo Schifrin, who also composed film scores including 'Cool Hand Luke,' 'Dirty Harry' and 'Bullitt,' passed away on Thursday at the age of 93, reported Variety. The celebrated music composer's demise was due to complications from pneumonia, the news outlet said. This Argentine musician was among the first to apply a broad range of musical ideas to film and TV scores, from jazz and rock to more modern and complex techniques of orchestral writing. Schifirin was at the peak of his career in the 1960s and 70s, when he produced several film and TV scores that are now regarded as classics. In November 2018, Schifrin became only the third composer in the history of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences to receive an honorary Oscar. According to Variety. Schifrin was nominated six times for Oscars including score nods for 'Cool Hand Luke' (1967), 'The Fox' (1968) 'Voyage of the Damned' (1976) 'The Amityville Horror' (1979) and 'The Sting II' (1983), plus a best-song nomination for 'The Competition' (1980), but he was especially well-known for his TV themes. The famous 'Mission: Impossible' theme earned him two of his five Grammy Awards and three of his four Emmy nominations, bringing him lasting fame. It was used throughout the eight Tom Cruise "Mission" films that began in 1996. The first of two 'Mission: Impossible' soundtrack albums became a best-seller in 1968, and the theme reached no. 41 on the Billboard pop charts, reported Variety. According to the outlet, Schifrin wrote the music for more than 40 TV-movies and miniseries including the controversial 1966 'Doomsday Flight,' about a madman who hides a bomb aboard a commercial airliner; and the 1980s and '90s multi-parters 'Princess Daisy,' 'A.D.,' 'Out on a Limb,' 'A Woman Named Jackie' and 'Don Quixote,' reported Variety. Other TV series for which he wrote themes included 'Blue Light,' 'The Young Lawyers,' 'Planet of the Apes,' 'Bronk' and 'Glitter.' According to Variety, Schifrin's last major work was a collaboration with fellow Argentinian composer Rod Schejtman: "Long Live Freedom," a 35-minute symphony dedicated to their country that debuted April 5 at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. Survivors, in addition to his wife Donna, include three children (William Schifrin and wife Lissa, Frances Schifrin and husband John Newcombe, Ryan Schifrin and wife Theresa) and four grandchildren, reported the outlet. (ANI)
Mint
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
Mission Impossible theme composer Lalo Schifrin passes away at 93
Washington DC [US], June 27 (ANI): Grammy-winning composer of 'Mission: Impossible' Lalo Schifrin, who also composed film scores including 'Cool Hand Luke,' 'Dirty Harry' and 'Bullitt,' passed away on Thursday at the age of 93, reported Variety. The celebrated music composer's demise was due to complications from pneumonia, the news outlet said. This Argentine musician was among the first to apply a broad range of musical ideas to film and TV scores, from jazz and rock to more modern and complex techniques of orchestral writing. Schifirin was at the peak of his career in the 1960s and 70s, when he produced several film and TV scores that are now regarded as classics. In November 2018, Schifrin became only the third composer in the history of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences to receive an honorary Oscar. According to Variety. Schifrin was nominated six times for Oscars including score nods for 'Cool Hand Luke' (1967), 'The Fox' (1968) 'Voyage of the Damned' (1976) 'The Amityville Horror' (1979) and 'The Sting II' (1983), plus a best-song nomination for 'The Competition' (1980), but he was especially well-known for his TV themes. The famous 'Mission: Impossible' theme earned him two of his five Grammy Awards and three of his four Emmy nominations, bringing him lasting fame. It was used throughout the eight Tom Cruise "Mission" films that began in 1996. The first of two 'Mission: Impossible' soundtrack albums became a best-seller in 1968, and the theme reached no. 41 on the Billboard pop charts, reported Variety. According to the outlet, Schifrin wrote the music for more than 40 TV-movies and miniseries including the controversial 1966 'Doomsday Flight,' about a madman who hides a bomb aboard a commercial airliner; and the 1980s and '90s multi-parters 'Princess Daisy,' 'A.D.,' 'Out on a Limb,' 'A Woman Named Jackie' and 'Don Quixote,' reported Variety. Other TV series for which he wrote themes included 'Blue Light,' 'The Young Lawyers,' 'Planet of the Apes,' 'Bronk' and 'Glitter.' According to Variety, Schifrin's last major work was a collaboration with fellow Argentinian composer Rod Schejtman: "Long Live Freedom," a 35-minute symphony dedicated to their country that debuted April 5 at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. Survivors, in addition to his wife Donna, include three children (William Schifrin and wife Lissa, Frances Schifrin and husband John Newcombe, Ryan Schifrin and wife Theresa) and four grandchildren, reported the outlet. (ANI)
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Automotive
- Irish Independent
John F Kennedy's historic Wexford visit is marked by vintage car run in New Ross
Gathering opposite the Dunbrody Famine Ship, the JFK Car Meet and Run left the town and headed for the JFK Arboretum, crossing the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge, and upon its return to the quay, passed the JFK statue. The lead car on the run was the distinctive and iconic red Ford Mustang with its V8 engine, probably the best known car to feature in any film for the remarkable Steve McQueen street chase through San Francisco in the 1968 classic film, Bullitt. The New Ross event attracted over 70 cars of all makes from the 1950's to the more modern cars of the 2000's, despite being a late event added to a crowded calendar and clashing with a well established show in south Dublin, and also up against the national favourite, the Donegal Rally, which is a must for all car enthusiasts. However, the organisers of the event said they were grateful for the support they received for the New Ross event in their efforts to attract people to the town and enjoy what it has to offer, especially on a summer's day like so. Throughout the day, people also wandered the streets as their curiosity led them to seek out the newly renovated Brennan's Lane, The High Hill Garden, the many murals around the streets, and some families strolled from the car meet down along the banks of the River Barrow past the award-winning Emigrant Park and joined in with the Family Fun Day in Pearse Park held by Wexford Sports Active, which was also a hive of activity on the day. Meanwhile, visitors of the Dunbrody Famine Ship and The Ros Tapestry afterwards made their way towards the car meet. John Dimond, of Wexford Sports and Classic Car Club commented on the event and said: 'The support from the visitors was great to see, but more events are needed to attract tourists and locals and on the back of this, the club will look at running similar events in the future.' The Wexford Sports and Classic Car Club has thanked those who sponsored prizes and the Dunbrody Centre for providing their facilities, with the 'most appreciated part of the day the Butchers Best sponsored BBQ burger to finish off the days events.' It's expected the JFK Car Meet and Run will made a donation from the funds raised to the New Ross Meals on Wheels in the near future. The Meals on Wheels is currently preparing for it's golf competition on July 21 and the organisation is appealing for sponsorship of tees and greens at €100 for each. The Meals on Wheels provides over 20,000 meals delivered to the homes of vulnerable people throughout the year and the delivery of the meals allows many of the recipients to remain in independent living in their homes. By supporting the golf competition, it will contribute hugely to the continuation of the service. Enquiries regarding the Meals on Wheels can be made at the Sr. Aidan Centre, Cross Street or by contacting 051 445711 between 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Monday to Friday.
