Latest news with #DirtyHarry
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
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Lalo Schifrin, the seminal composer of Mission: Impossible, Enter the Dragon and Dirty Harry, passes away at 93
Lalo Schifrin, one of Hollywood's pre-eminent composers since his rise to prominence in the 1960s, passed away on June 26, 2025 due to complications from pneumonia. He was 93 years old. Lalo Schifrin is well known as the original composer for the iconic Mission: Impossible theme that originally served as the intro to the 1966 television series that kickstarted the franchise. Mission: Impossible would eventually see a revival, first as a 1988 series, and subsequently as a blockbuster film franchise starring Tom Cruise that's still running strong. Lalo Schifrin is survived by his wife Donna, and the couple's three children. Lalo Schifrin was the acclaimed composer for Mission: Impossible Lalo Schifrin cemented his place in Hollywood pop culture with his work on the original Mission: Impossible television series, which first premiered on CBS in 1966. Aside from that, Schifrin has also worked on the films Cool Hand Luke (1967), Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry films, and Bruce Lee's iconic action flick Enter the Dragon (1973).
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)
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Lalo Schifrin, composer behind ‘Bullitt' and ‘Dirty Harry,' dies at 93
Lalo Schifrin, the trailblazing composer whose music helped define the sound of 1970s action cinema and turned San Francisco into a sonic landmark for filmgoers around the world, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 93. Schifrin's jazz-inflected, rhythmically daring scores for Steve McQueen's 'Bullitt' (1968) and Clint Eastwood's 'Dirty Harry' (1971) helped establish the musical identities of two of the most iconic films ever set in the Bay Area. He was also hand-picked by Bruce Lee to score his final film, 'Enter the Dragon' (1973). With a deft mix of suspense, funk and atmospheric cool, Schifrin's work elevated car chases down Potrero Hill and showdowns at Aquatic Park into unforgettable cinematic moments. 'Everybody tells me how great the music for the chase in 'Bullitt' is,' Schifrin told The Chronicle in a 2003 interview. 'I didn't do any music for the chase. Four minutes before the chase, where there is a foot chase in the hospital, I build and build the suspense and the tension. And finally, when Steve McQueen finds a way to get to the freeway, at that moment the music stops suddenly. I told the director it would be a mistake to continue the music on the chase. The audience should hear the sounds of the cars, so they know whether the villain or 'Bullitt' is coming. You know what? It worked.' Born Boris Claudio Schifrin in Buenos Aires in 1932, he trained in classical composition at the Paris Conservatory under Olivier Messiaen while moonlighting in jazz clubs. He emigrated to the U.S. after a serendipitous encounter with Dizzy Gillespie, eventually becoming his pianist and arranger. That genre-crossing instinct became the hallmark of his scoring career. In Hollywood, Schifrin's fusion of jazz, Latin rhythms and experimental time signatures made him one of the most distinctive composers of the late 20th century. Schifrin received six Academy Award nominations over his career, including Best Original Score nods for 'Cool Hand Luke' (1967), 'The Fox' (1968), 'Voyage of the Damned' (1976), 'The Amityville Horror' (1979) and 'The Sting II' (1983). He also earned a nomination for Best Original Song for 'People Alone' from 'The Competition' (1980). 'He really was such a genius at combining rhythm, texture, instrumentation and melody in such a powerful and unique way,' Daniel Pemberton, an English composer who wrote the score for the film 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,' wrote on X. His theme for the 'Mission: Impossible' television show — composed in 5/4 time and famously written in just three minutes — became a pop culture staple, earning him Grammy Awards and renewed fame with the Tom Cruise film franchise that launched in 1996. Schifrin applauded you artists who sampled his work, most notably Portishead, who sampled the main riff from 'Danube Incident' for its 1994 hit 'Sour Times.' 'These young people are rediscovering my music and using it in their own way,' he told The Chronicle. 'It's almost like a bridge to a younger generation. It rejuvenates me. The same thing happens with the fact that the two 'Mission: Impossible' movies made people rediscover that theme. That is a very positive sign. I'm not a purist. I'm very far from being a purist.'
