THE MAESTRO

Italian Cinematic Score Composer Ennio Morricone Has Died at 91

The prolific composer penned haunting scores for more than 500 movies spanning genres from Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns to Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight.”

Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who wrote memorable movie scores for more than 500 films during his lengthy career, has died in a hospital in Rome after falling and breaking his femur last week. Morricone was 91. Among his most famous compositions are those he penned for Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, including A Fistful of Dollars, Once Upon a Time in America, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. His work spanned all genres, from horror to comedy, and he worked with some of the world’s best movie directors, including Pier Paolo Pasolini, Terrence Malick, Roland Joffé, Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson, Mike Nichols, John Carpenter, and Quentin Tarantino. In 2016, he won his first Academy Award for his score for Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. He had previously been honored with an Oscar for lifetime achievement, two Golden Globes, four Grammys, and dozens of other awards and nominations.