Sir George Martin, ‘Fifth Beatle,’ Dies at 90

Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has announced the death of the so-called "fifth Beatle," producer Sir George Martin, at age 90.

Starr posted the news on Twitter Wednesday, with a photograph of Martin with the Beatles captioned "Thank you for all your love and kindness George."

Universal Music Group has confirmed the death, but details have not been released.

British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted a tribute early Wednesday, calling Martin "a giant of music."

Martin, a classically trained musician, signed the four young Beatles to a music contract in 1962. He was considered essential to their success, helping them arrange, and produce many of their biggest hits, starting with one of their first: 1962's "Love Me Do."

​​In some cases, Martin's classical music training filled in gaps for band members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Starr, who entered the industry with only a basic knowledge of reading and writing music. Martin is credited with scoring now-iconic trumpet solos, string quartet interludes, and piano breaks in some of the Beatles' most memorable songs.

After the breakup of the Beatles in 1970, Martin went on to work with other artists such as Elton John, Bob Dylan, and Sting. He was knighted by the British monarchy in 1996.

Martin continued working on Beatles-related projects, recording two solo albums for Paul McCartney and, in 2006, developing a Beatles-based Cirque de Soleil show called "Love" that has won two Grammy awards for its soundtrack.

Guinness World Records has named Martin as the most successful music producer ever, with more than 50 number-one hit records in Britain and the United States alone, over a career that lasted six decades.

Titantic Composer James Horner Dies in Plane Crash

Academy Award-winning music composer James Horner has been killed in a plane crash.

Horner won two Oscars for the movie Titanic - one for its theme song My Heart Will Go On, performed by Celine Dion, and another for the film's score.

He received Oscar nominations for his music in Apollo 13, Braveheart, Field of Dreams, Aliens and Avatar.

Horner, who was 61 years old, died when his single-engine plane crashed Monday about 160 kilometers northwest of Los Angeles. No one else was on board the plane.

Horner's scores carried films to their climax and accompanied top actors as they delivered some of their most moving performances.

Tender kisses in The Amazing Spider-Man, grand battles in Troy and moments of stirring drama in A Beautiful Mind were set up by Horner's compositions.

American film hits of the 1990s, such as Patriot Games, Searching for Bobby Fischer and Jumanji also were composed by Horner. In addition, he scored popular animated films The Land Before Time (1988) and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991).

Horner was nominated for an Oscar for the song Somewhere Out There in An American Tail.

Top actors and directors in the film and television world paid tribute to Horner online. Academy Award winning director Ron Howard wrote on Twitter, "Brilliant Composer James Horner, friend & collaborator on seven movies has tragically died in a plane crash. My heart aches for his loved ones."

Jazz Pianist Marian McPartland Dead at 95

by Eric Felten, Bernie Bernard

Marian McPartland, one of the best-known jazz artists in America, died August 20 in Port Washington, New York. She was 95. A musician who broke ground for women instrumentalists in the 1940s and ‘50s, she would later become best known as host of the long-running radio program “Piano Jazz.”

McPartland’s elegant approach to jazz gracefully spanned several major eras, from swing to bebop and beyond. Ms. McPartland brought the musical knowledge earned over decades playing in night-clubs to National Public Radio, where for more than 30 years she hosted “Piano Jazz,” a program that mixed conversation and performance with many of the world’s best musicians.

Born Margaret Marian Turner in Windsor, England, as a girl she took up piano. To her parents’ dismay, when she was 20 she left home to join a four-piano vaudeville act. On a tour playing for Allied troops during World War II she met American jazz trumpeter Jimmy McPartland. They married, and, after the war, moved to the United States. With her husband's encouragement, McPartland went on to lead her own small bands.

McPartland landed a steady job performing at a New York City jazz club, the Hickory House. She played there for eight years, and developed a reputation not only for her fine piano playing, but for her melodic original compositions. Her songs were recorded by singers such as Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, and Peggy Lee.

At first, McPartland was so nervous about her songwriting she wouldn't take the credit for her own tunes.

"Years ago, I felt very insecure about writing songs, and I wrote one at the Hickory House," she said. "Somebody said, 'That's a nice song,' so then it was O.K. for me to say that I had written it. Isn't that sick?"

Starting in the 1960s, McPartland traveled to schools around the United States, encouraging students to develop an appreciation for jazz. She would use popular songs to introduce young listeners to the many sounds of jazz.

"I'll probably pick a tune that they know, something they've all heard, like the theme of [television program] 'M.A.S.H.,' for instance. They all know that. Then I'll do it another way, maybe like jazz, blues or something slow.  And I'll go through a whole thumbnail history of jazz. I'll do some boogie-woogie and so on, and really kind of grab them with that. But as long as you know tunes that they know, I think that helps a lot."

McPartland took that approach to the airwaves in 1979. Her weekly show, “Piano Jazz” became one of the most popular programs on public radio, airing across the United States for over three decades. Each week she would engage noted musicians in casual, relaxed interviews. She would take turns with her guests playing songs, and then would perform duets with them. Both in its music and its conversations, McPartland’s “Piano Jazz” expressed the core jazz virtue of improvisation.

The National Endowment for the Arts recognized McPartland as a “Jazz Master” in 2000. Four years later she won a special Grammy Award for her lifetime achievement. She continued to perform and broadcast into her nineties.

Hamlisch Remembered for Iconic Broadway Tunes

by Katherine Cole

Marvin Hamlisch, who composed the scores of dozens of plays and movies, died in Los Angeles on August 2 at the age of 68. His songs were some of the most iconic of Hollywood and Broadway.

Origins

Hamlisch, the Pulitzer prize-winning composer of “A Chorus Line” and recipient of numerous Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards, was born in New York City to immigrant parents. His father was a professional accordion player and, seeing musical promise in his son, sent him to the famed Julliard School for piano lessons before he turned 7. As he recounted in many interviews, however, Marvin Hamlisch soon realized he wasn’t cut out to be a classical concert pianist.  Instead, he turned his sights to pop music. He was 21 when he wrote Lesley Gore’s 1965 hit “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows.”

Legacy

It is for his Broadway and Hollywood scores that Marvin Hamlisch will be best remembered.

Hamlisch was only 29  when he swept the music categories at the 46th Academy Awards in 1974, becoming the first person to receive three Oscars on the same evening. That night, he won best scoring for “The Sting,” and best song and best original dramatic score for “The Way We Were.”

In July, Hamlisch received the first Legends Award from the film, television and digital media non-profit organization CINE at its 55th Annual Awards Gala.  Mark Finkelpearl, a filmmaker and Cine Board member, says that during a question and answer session before the awards, Hamlisch explained that he had to fight to get “The Way We Were” the way he wanted it.

“He played the piano for us in this little, tiny theater and showed clips from movies like 'The Way We Were' and 'The Sting' and talked about different scenes and how changing the music a little bit would change a scene completely. He didn’t like the final music cue in the scene between [Robert] Redford and Barbra Streisand outside the Plaza Hotel in 'The Way We Were.' And the director wouldn’t let him change it," Finkelpearl recalled.  " [He said] ’You know what Marvin? We’re too far along, we don’t want to change it, I think it works. You’re overthinking it.’  And Marvin said ‘Look, I have to live with this movie for the rest of my life. And I know that I can make it better.  I will take the money out of my fee to go back and redo the cue and lay it into the film the way that I think it should be laid in.’  And the director agreed to that. So he lost some money on the deal, but he got the cue the way he wanted it for the end of “The Way We Were.” It was a really, really poignant about craft. And about really elevating your craft to the point where if you’re not happy with it, if you can’t live with it, it’s not right.”

Finkelpearl added that it's not possible to overstate Hamlisch's importance.

"Marvin Hamlisch was a titan.  There’s no one who can ever fill those shoes again," he noted. "Everything’s changed. Showbiz has changed, the movies have changed. There will never be another Marvin Hamlisch.”

Last works

Hamlisch’s latest musical theatre work is the Broadway-bound production of “The Nutty Professor,” based on the 1963 Jerry Lewis Movie. The show, with songs by Hamlisch and Rupert Holmes, just opened in Nashville. Producer Mac Pirkle says Hamlisch was a joy to work with.

“He’s got a very high level of excellence that he strives for in everything that he does," Pirkle recalled. "And that shows in the music that he did and shows in the detail of the arrangements that followed from his compositions. And shows in the work that he did with Rupert [Holmes].” They really have been able to explore the wide variety of emotions in the show in a beautiful way that is fun, it’s energetic, it provides great moments for dance, great moments for character insights. It’s great fun.”

Symphony

A tireless worker, Hamlisch was also the principal Pops conductor for the Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Dallas, Seattle, San Diego and Pasadena Symphony Orchestras and next week was to announce that he’d taken on the same role with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Hamlisch was the recipient of four Grammy Awards, four Emmys, three Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Tony and the Pulitzer Prize. That last honor came for “A Chorus Line” which ran for 6,137 performances on Broadway from 1975 to 1990.  Hired by director Michael Bennett, he scored the lyrics and composed songs including “One (Singular Sensation)” and the oft covered ballad “What I Did For Love.”

(Photo by Alan Light.)

Award-Winning Composer Marvin Hamlisch Dies

The American composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch, who composed the music for great films and Broadway musicals, has died.

Hamlisch's music touched lives around the world and won him three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony, and three Golden Globe awards. He won multiple awards for his score of the groundbreaking show A Chorus Line. That musical also won a Pulitzer Prize. He worked with a number of American stars, including Barbra Streisand and Aretha Franklin.

He composed more than 40 motion picture scores, including the Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were and his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s ragtime music for The Sting, which provided his third Oscar.

One of his last performances was on July 13, at the Wolf Trap Performing Arts center outside Washington. Hamlisch performed with Broadway singer Melissa Errico, in an evening of George Gershwin tunes. Errico said she cherishes the experience.

“It was the greatest artistic experiences of my life, not to mention the amount of laughter we got out of the audience, which is so Marvin to do a serious job with music but to be super silly. That’s Marvin. He likes to have a good time and turn the corner and do incredible music,” she said.

Hamlisch was the principal pops conductor for several U.S. orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Pops and The San Diego Symphony. He's considered one of the most versatile modern composers, with works from Broadway hits to classical compositions and rhythm and blues hits.

“[He] is someone who knows how to take classical music, historical music, theater music, jazz music, stuff that some people would say is not popular anymore and bring it to life and make it fun and funny," said Errico. "He believes that a pops concert should feel, not serious, not feel like you’re going back in time, but that it’s happening right now. There is no one in the world like him, I cannot articulate this loss.”

Hamlisch, 68, died on Monday, his family said Tuesday.

He was a graduate of the Julliard School of Music and Queens College. He often spoke of music's universal appeal. On his Web site, he wrote, “There is a global nature to music, which has the potential to bring all people together."

Final Exits, 15-21 October 2011

Pete Rugolo, circa December 1946. (Photograph by William P. Gottlieb, courtesy of United States Library of Congress's Music Division)

Obituaries for 15-21 October 2011

15
* Betty Driver, 91, British singer and actress (Coronation Street), pneumonia.
* Sir Donald Dunstan, 88, Australian military officer, Governor of South Australia (1982–1991).
* Pierre Mamboundou, 65, Gabonese politician, leader of the Union of the Gabonese People (since 1989), heart attack.
* Matthew G. Martínez, 82, American politician, U.S. Representative from California (1982–2001).
* Earl McRae, 69, Canadian journalist (Ottawa Sun), apparent heart attack.
* Sue Mengers, 79, American talent agent, pneumonia
* Franko Strmotić, 67, Croatian actor. (Croatian)

16
* Henry Bathurst, 8th Earl Bathurst, 84, British aristocrat and politician.
* Elouise Cobell, 65, American Native American rights activist.
* Miguel Ángel Granados Chapa, 70, Mexican journalist.
* Rick Huseman, 38, American off-road racer, plane crash.
* Pete Rugolo, 95, Italian-born American film and television composer (Kiss Me Kate, The Fugitive).
* Henning Sjöström, 89, Swedish defense attorney, long illness. (Swedish)
* Elisabeth Tankeu, 67, Cameroonian politician, Minister for Planning and Regional Development (1988–1992).
* Dan Wheldon, 33, British IndyCar driver, racing accident.
* Don Williams, 80, American baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Athletics).

17
* Barney Danson, 90, Canadian politician, MP for York North (1968–1979), Minister of National Defence (1976–1979).
* Manfred Gerlach, 83, German politician, last Chairman of the State Council of East Germany (1989–1990).
* Poul Glargaard, 69, Danish actor. (Danish)
* Osvaldo Guidi, 47, Argentine actor, suicide by hanging. (Spanish)
* Carl Lindner, Jr., 92, American businessman (United Dairy Farmers, Cincinnati Reds), cardiac arrest.
* Elaine Nile, 75, Australian politician, member of the New South Wales Legislative Council (1988–2002), cancer.
* Piri Thomas, 83, American writer (Down These Mean Streets) and poet, pneumonia.

18
* Bob Brunning, 68, British blues musician (Fleetwood Mac), heart attack.
* George Chaloupka, 79, Czech-born Australian historian of indigenous art.
* Mofya Chisgena, 28, Zambian pageant winner, complications from childbirth.
* Ramaz Chkhikvadze, 83, Georgian actor, People's Artist of the USSR, long illness.
* Norman Corwin, 101, American radio writer, director and producer.
* Paul Everac, 87, Romanian writer, cancer. (Romanian)
* Tommy Grant, 76, Canadian football player (Hamilton Tiger-Cats).
* Kent Hull, 50, American football player (Buffalo Bills), liver disease.
* Friedrich Kittler, 68, German literary scholar and media theorist. (German)
* Merritt Ranew, 73, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs)
* Lee Soo-Chul, 45, South Korean football manager, suicide.
* Michael Staikos, 65, Greek-born Austrian Orthodox hierarch, Metropolitan of Austria (since 1991). (German)
* Jacques Thuillier, 83, French art historian. (French)
* Andrea Zanzotto, 90, Italian poet. (Italian)

19
* Édison Chará, 31, Colombian footballer.
* Earl Gilliam, 81, American blues pianist, lung disease.
* Ken Meyerson, 47, American tennis agent.
* Bohdan Osadchuk, 91, Ukrainian historian and journalist. (Polish)
* Hollis E. Roberts, 68, American politician, Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (1978–1997).
* Keith Williams, 82, Australian property developer (Hamilton Island, Sea World), stroke.

20
* John Bosco Manat Chuabsamai, 75, Thai Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Ratchaburi (1985–2003).
* Barry Feinstein, 80, American photographer and photo journalist.
* Moatassem Gaddafi 34, Libyan Army officer, fifth son of Muammar Gaddafi, shot.
* Muammar Gaddafi, 69, Libyan leader (1969–2011), shot.
* Gale Gillingham, 67, American football player (Green Bay Packers).
* Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr, 59, Libyan defence minister, shot.
* Dennis Hall, 54, American cinematographer (Franklin & Bash, Burn Notice), heart attack.
* Robert Hunter, 36, Australian rapper, cancer.
* Sue Lloyd, 72, British actress (The Ipcress File, Crossroads).
* Iztok Puc, 45, Slovenian handball player, lung cancer.
* Abdullah Senussi, 61, Sudanese-born Libyan intelligence chief, shot. (death reported on this date)
* Morris Tabaksblat, 74, Dutch Former CEO of Unilever. (Dutch)
* Roger Tallon, 82, French industrial designer. (French)

21
* Rudolph Byrd, 58, American academic, multiple myeloma.
* George Daniels, 85, English horologist.
* Thomas Dillon, 61, American serial killer.
* Freddie Ferrara, American rhythm and blues singer (The Del-Satins, The Brooklyn Bridge), cardiac arrest.
* Yann Fouéré, 101, French Breton nationalist. (French)
* Anis Mansour, 86, Egyptian writer and columnist, pneumonia.
* Tone Pavček, 83, Slovenian author and translator.
* Edmundo Ros, 100, Trinidadian bandleader.
* Wang Yue, 2, Chinese hit-and-run victim.
* Scott White, 41, American politician, member of the Washington House of Representatives (2009–2011) and State Senator (since 2011).

Final Exits, 22-28 July 2011

Frank Foster (left) and Dan Morgenstern in 2008. (Photo: nea.gov)

Obituaries for 22-28 July 2011

22
* Tom Aldredge, 83, American actor (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire), lymphoma.
* Linda Christian, 87, Mexican-born American actress, first Bond girl (1954 television adaptation of Casino Royale).
* Tore Eikeland, 21, Norwegian politician, killed in 2011 Norway attacks. (Norwegian)
* Dmitri Furman, 68, Russian historian and philosopher, after long illness. (Russian)
* Charles Manatt, 75, American lawyer, banker and political figure, complications of a stroke.
* Malcolm Muir, 96, American jurist.
* Ifti Nasim, 64, Pakistani-born American poet and radio host, heart attack.
* Tex Nelson, 74, American baseball player (Baltimore Orioles).
* Wolfram Thiem, 55, German Olympic rower. (German)
* Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, 79, New Zealand politician, longest-serving female member of the House of Representatives (1967–1996).
* Brian Vallee, 70, Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker, cancer.
* Cees de Wolf, 65, Dutch footballer (Ajax Amsterdam). (Dutch)

23
* David Aiken, 93, American operatic baritone and opera director.
* Toyoo Ashida, 67, Japanese animator (Fist of the North Star, The World of Narue, Gulliver Boy, F-Zero: GP Legend) (Japanese)
* Mathilde Aussant, 113, French supercentenarian, oldest person in France.
* Terence Boston, Baron Boston of Faversham, 81, British politician, MP for Faversham (1964–1970).
* John Chervokas, 74, American advertising writer.
* Robert Ettinger, 92, American cryonicist, respiratory failure.
* Ina van Faassen, 82, Dutch actress. (Dutch)
* Jack Fitzpatrick, 88, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Country Curtains, Massachusetts State Senator (1973–1980).
* Milton Gwirtzman, 78, American speech writer, advisor to the Kennedy family, metastatic melanoma.
* Johnny Hoes, 94, Dutch singer, composer and producer. (Dutch)
* Fran Landesman, 83, American lyricist and poet.
* Butch Lewis, 65, American boxing promoter, heart attack.
* Conrad Meyer, 89, British prelate, Bishop of Dorchester (1979–1988)
* Bill Morrissey, 59, American singer-songwriter.
* Nguyen Cao Ky, 80, Vietnamese air force chief and political leader, Prime Minister of South Vietnam (1965–1967).
* Richard Pike, 61, British chemist.
* George Ramos, 63, American reporter, editor and columnist (Los Angeles Times).
* Daryoush Rezaei, 35, Iranian nuclear scientist, shot.
* John Shalikashvili, 75, Polish-born American army general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1993–1997), stroke.
* Elmer B. Staats, 97, American public servant, Comptroller General of the United States (1966–1981).
* Amy Winehouse, 27, British singer-songwriter ("Rehab").

24
* Kaveinga Fa'anunu, 48, Tongan politician, MP for Tongatapu 9 (since 2010), head and neck cancer.
* Tresa Hughes, 81, American actress (Another World, Don Juan DeMarco, Fame).
* Gilbert Luján, 70, American painter, prostate cancer.
* Paul Marchand, 74, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Timmins (since 1999).
* Josip Bobi Marotti, 89, Croatian actor. (Croatian)
* Christopher Mayer, 57, American actor (The Dukes of Hazzard, Santa Barbara, Liar Liar).
* Virgilio Noè, 89, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Peter (1991–2002).
* Mike Palm, 86, American baseball player (Boston Red Sox).
* Dan Peek, 60, American singer-songwriter (America).
* David Servan-Schreiber, 50, French physician, neuroscientist and author, cancer.
* G. D. Spradlin, 90, American actor (North Dallas Forty, The Godfather Part II).
* Skip Thomas, 61, American football player (Oakland Raiders), apparent heart attack.
* Jane White, 88, American actress (Beloved, Klute, Once Upon a Mattress).

25
* Michael Cacoyannis, 89, Cypriot filmmaker (Zorba the Greek).
* Bakır Çağlar, 69–70, Turkish jurist, lawyer and constitutional law professor, bleeding stomach. (Turkish)
* V. S. Krishna Iyer, 89, Indian activist and politician, after long illness.
* Jeret Peterson, 29, American free style skier, 2010 Winter Olympics silver medalist, suicide by gunshot.
* Ravichandran, 71, Malaysian-born Indian actor, lung infection.
* Mike Reaves, 52, American rock musician (Full Devil Jacket), prostate cancer.
* Irma Schmidt, 112, American supercentenarian, Connecticut's oldest resident.

26
* Joe Arroyo, 55, Colombian singer.
* Jacques Fatton, 85, French-born Swiss footballer. (German)
* Frank Foster, 82, American jazz saxophonist and composer, complications from kidney failure.
* Bobby Franklin, 54, American politician, apparent heart attack.
* Richard Harris, 63, American football player (Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks) and coach (Winnipeg Blue Bombers), heart attack.
* Sakyo Komatsu, 80, Japanese science fiction writer, pneumonia.
* Georges Kwaïter, 83, Syrian-born Lebanese Melkite Catholic hierarch, Archbishop of Saïdā (1987–2006).
* Elmer Lower, 98, American broadcast executive, president of ABC News (1963–1974).
* Silvio Narizzano, 84, Canadian-born British film and television director.
* Margaret Olley, 88, Australian painter.
* Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz, Mexican journalist, cut throat. (body found on this date)
* Josephine C. Reyes, 82, Filipino educator, President of Far Eastern University (1985–1989).
* Howard Stein, 84, American financier, complications of a stroke.
* Tim Smooth, 39, American rapper, cancer.

27
* Wilfred Arsenault, 57, Canadian politician, cancer.
* Rudolf Baláž, 70, Slovak Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Banská Bystrica (since 1990).
* Richard Chavez, 81, American activist and labor organizer, brother of Cesar Chavez, complications from surgery.
* Ghulam Haider Hamidi, 65, Afghan politician, Mayor of Kandahar (since 2007), bombing.
* Rei Harakami, 40, Japanese musician, cerebrovascular disease. (Japanese)
* Hideki Irabu, 42, Japanese baseball player (Chiba Lotte Marines, New York Yankees, Montreal Expos), hanged. (body discovered on this date)
* Jerome Liebling, 87, American photographer, filmmaker and academic (Hampshire College).
* Polly Platt, 72, American film producer (Say Anything...), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
* Bejaratana Rajasuda, 85, Thai royal, only daughter of King Vajiravudh of Thailand.
* Eduard Rozovsky, 84, Russian cinematographer (Amphibian Man, White Sun of the Desert), car accident. (Russian)
* Pietro Sambi, 73, Italian-born Vatican Roman Catholic titular archbishop, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States (since 2005), respiratory failure.
* Francis John Spence, 85, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Kingston (1982–2002).
* John Stott, 90, British Anglican clergyman.

28
* Elazar Abuhatzeira, 70, Moroccan-born Israeli rabbi, stabbed.
* Frank Bender, 70, American forensic artist, pleural mesothelioma.
* Bernd Clüver, 63, German singer, complications from a fall. (German)
* Howard W. Creecy, Jr., 57, American preacher and civil rights leader, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, heart attack.
* Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, 25, British journalist, explosion.
* David Legrant, 87, American acting teacher and actor.
* Agapito Lozada, 72, Filipino Olympic swimmer.
* John Marburger, 70, American physicist and presidential adviser, non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
* Fortino Cortés Sandoval, 39, Mexican politician, Mayor of Florencia de Benito Juárez, shot. (Spanish) (body found on this date)
* Judy Sowinski, 70, American roller derby player. (death reported on this date)
* Jack Thompson, 82, British politician, MP for Wansbeck (1983–1997). (death reported on this date)
* John Milton Yinger, 95, American sociologist.
* Abdul Fatah Younis, 67, Libyan rebel leader and government official, former Interior Minister, shot.

Composer John Barry Dies

John Barry and Paul Bateman at the Royal Albert Hall, 30 September 2006. (Photographer: Geoff Leonard.)

Composer John Barry Dies
Monday, 31 January 2011

Composer John Barry, who won five Oscars for his film work, has died at the age of 77.

Barry's family said Monday that he had died in New York Sunday.

The Britain-born composer was well-known for his music in a string of James Bond films, but his five Oscars were won for other movies, including Out of Africa, The Lion in Winter, Born Free and Dances with Wolves.

The family said Barry is survived by his wife of 33 years, and his four children and five grandchildren.

British radio reports Barry died of a heart attack.