Ennio Morricone has died at the age of 91
Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who created the memorable coyote-howl theme for the Spaghetti Western The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, has died aged 91.
His lawyer Giorgio Assumma said the Maestro, as he was known, died in a Rome hospital early on Monday of complications after he broke his leg in a fall.
During a career that spanned decades and earned him a lifetime achievement Oscar in 2007, before he took the best original score award for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight in 2016, Morricone collaborated with some of the most renowned directors in the world.
His work can be heard in Brian de Palma’s The Untouchables, The Battle Of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo, John Carpenter’s The Thing and Roland Joffe’s The Mission.
It is perhaps his work with Italian film-maker Sergio Leone – who was a school-mate of Morricone’s – that is the most instantly recognisable.
The Dollars trilogy of so-called Spaghetti Westerns from the 1960s were massively influential and made Clint Eastwood an international movie star.
In total, Morricone produced more than 400 original scores for feature films.
Director Edgar Wright paid tribute to Morricone on Twitter saying: "Where to even begin with iconic composer Ennio Morricone?
"He could make an average movie into a must-see, a good movie into art, and a great movie into legend.
"He hasn't been off my stereo my entire life. What a legacy of work he leaves behind. RIP"
