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Oscar-winning composer Elmer Bernstein, famous for scores including The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven, died on Wednesday at the age of 82.
Although he only won one Oscar during his 50-year career, for Thoroughly Modern Millie, he was nominated 14 times, most recently in 2002.
As an accomplished pianist, Bernstein moved to Hollywood from New York in 1950 as his movie career took off.
His publicist said he died in his sleep at his Los Angeles home.
Among more than 200 film and TV credits were the scores for To Kill a Mockingbird, Birdman of Alcatraz, The Ten Commandments and The Age of Innocence.
Bernstein's first film score was Saturday's Hero, a tale about American football, in 1951.
One of his most recent scores was for the 2002 movie Far From Heaven, for which he received his final Academy Award nomination.
Director Martin Scorsese, whom he worked with on Cape Fear, once said of him: "It's one thing to write music that reinforces a film, underscores it... or gives it added dramatic muscle.
"It's entirely another to write music that graces a film. That's what Elmer Bernstein does, and that, for me, is his greatest gift."
BBC Read More
Although he only won one Oscar during his 50-year career, for Thoroughly Modern Millie, he was nominated 14 times, most recently in 2002.
As an accomplished pianist, Bernstein moved to Hollywood from New York in 1950 as his movie career took off.
His publicist said he died in his sleep at his Los Angeles home.
Among more than 200 film and TV credits were the scores for To Kill a Mockingbird, Birdman of Alcatraz, The Ten Commandments and The Age of Innocence.
Bernstein's first film score was Saturday's Hero, a tale about American football, in 1951.
One of his most recent scores was for the 2002 movie Far From Heaven, for which he received his final Academy Award nomination.
Director Martin Scorsese, whom he worked with on Cape Fear, once said of him: "It's one thing to write music that reinforces a film, underscores it... or gives it added dramatic muscle.
"It's entirely another to write music that graces a film. That's what Elmer Bernstein does, and that, for me, is his greatest gift."
BBC Read More
