Latest news with #CoolHandLuke
Kuwait Times
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
‘Mission: Impossible' composer Lalo Schifrin dies aged 93
Famed composer Lalo Schifrin, who created themes for a host of hit Hollywood films and television shows -- including the instantly recognizable '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. After training in Paris, Schifrin returned to Buenos Aires and set up his own big band, with a performance notably impressing jazz legend trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. 'So after we finished, Dizzy came to me and said, did you write all these charts? And I said, yes. Would you like to come to United States? I thought he was joking. He wasn't,' Schifrin recounted to NPR in 2007. 'I wouldn't be here had it not been for that moment,' he told the US radio. 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). Geller's brief was for 'a theme that's exciting, promising, but not too heavy' and anticipates the action to follow, Schifrin told NPR in 2015. Geller said that when 'people go to the kitchen and get a Coca-Cola, I want them to hear the theme and say, Oh, this is 'Mission: Impossible',' he recounted. The score he delivered earned Schifrin two Grammy music awards in 1967, adding to two for the albums 'The Cat' (1964) and 'Jazz Suite On The Mass Texts' (1965). Shifrin 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
New Straits Times
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ : Mission: Impossible' composer Lalo Schifrin dies at 93
LOS ANGELES: Argentine musician Lalo Schifrin, composer of the memorable "Mission: Impossible" theme and the scores for dozens of Hollywood movies and TV shows, has died at age 93, media outlets reported on Thursday. Schifrin's son, William, confirmed his father's death, The Hollywood Reporter said. An agent for Schifrin did not immediately respond to an e-mail from Reuters. Born in Buenos Aires, Schifrin became a fan of American jazz in his teens. He was also a pianist and conductor. Schifrin received six Oscar nominations for movie scores that included the 1967 film "Cool Hand Luke" and "The Amityville Horror" in 1979. He won four Grammys, including one for the "Mission: Impossible" theme set to an unconventional 5/4 time signature. The song was written for the CBS television spy drama that debuted in 1966 and became a blockbuster film franchise still running today. Schifrin received an honorary Oscar for his lifetime of work in 2018. Clint Eastwood presented him with the award. - REUTERS
Express Tribune
27-06-2025
- 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
USA Today
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Lalo Schifrin, mastermind behind 'Mission: Impossible' theme, dies at 93: Reports
Lalo Schifrin, the Grammy-winning mastermind behind the "Mission: Impossible" theme song, has died, according to reports. He was 93. Schifrin died Thursday, June 26, from complications with pneumonia, surrounded by family in his Los Angeles home, the Associated Press and Guardian report. USA TODAY has reached out to Shifrin's agent for comment. A highly venerated composer, Schifrin's musical concoctions form the emotional backbone of movies like "Cool Hand Luke," "The Fox," "Voyage of the Damned," "The Amityville Horror," "The Sting II" and the "Rush Hour" trilogy. A four-time Grammy winner, he was also nominated for six Academy Awards over the course of a near five-decadelong career, and was gifted an honorary Oscar in 2019 for his contributions to film. 'Mission: Impossible' movies in order: Here's where 'Final Reckoning' fits Born in Argentina in 1932 to a musical family, Schifrin cut his chops as a jazz pianist in Europe before settling in America and drawing on his own skill to work first as a classical composer and then as a scorer for film and television. He wrote over 100 scores throughout his career and helped orchestrate the first-ever joint performance of the Three Tenors for the 1990 FIFA World Cup championships in Italy. His most famous work, however, remains the suspenseful earworm that grounds the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. Equal parts brassy and moody, the theme has become an indelible part of American movie culture, especially as the brand has moved from a mildly popular television series to a wildly successful film juggernaut, propelling both Tom Cruise and Schifrin's catchy tune to eternal stardom. 'Mission: Impossible'? We rank every movie (even 'Final Reckoning') from worst to best "The producer called me and told me, 'You're going to have to write something exciting, almost like a logo, something that will be a signature, and it's going to start with a fuse,'" Schifrin told the Associated Press in 2006. "So I did it and there was nothing on the screen. And maybe the fact that I was so free and I had no images to catch, maybe that's why this thing has become so successful," he said. "Because I wrote something that came from inside me."
Sharjah 24
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sharjah 24
'Mission: Impossible' composer Lalo Schifrin dies at 93
Schifrin's son, William, confirmed his father's death, The Hollywood Reporter said. An agent for Schifrin did not immediately respond to an e-mail from Reuters. Born in Buenos Aires, Schifrin became a fan of American jazz in his teens. He was also a pianist and conductor. Schifrin received six Oscar nominations for movie scores that included the 1967 film "Cool Hand Luke" and "The Amityville Horror" in 1979. He won four Grammys, including one for the "Mission: Impossible" theme set to an unconventional 5/4 time signature. The song was written for the CBS television spy drama that debuted in 1966 and became a blockbuster film franchise still running today. Schifrin received an honorary Oscar for his lifetime of work in 2018. Clint Eastwood presented him with the award.
