Obit

James Bond Composer Dies

John Berry wrote music for dozens of spy flicks.

English composer John Barry died Sunday at the age of 77, leaving behind five Oscars for his work on iconic movies like Born Free and Out of Africa and 12 James Bond movies. Born in York, England, Barry was a jazz pianist before writing music for films. His first Bond film was 1962's Dr. No, which he worked on but did not receive credit for. "The James Bond movies came because we were successful in the pop music world, with a couple of big instrumental hits. They thought I knew how to write instrumental hit music," Barry said in 1991. There is much dispute over who wrote the famous "Bond" theme song. The Guardian says Monty Norman wrote the score for the theme, while Barry arranged it uniquely for each of the movies he worked on.