Ennio Morricone, the Italian Oscar-winning composer, has died at age 91 after suffering a fall that left him with a hip fracture.
Sadly, the prolific film composer would never recover, with his lawyer Giorgio Asumma confirming the news of his passing to Italian news outlet ANSA, via Variety.
Morricone composed over 500 scores for film and television throughout his 50+ year career, and is believed to have composed the most scores in the history of Western Cinema.
He famously contributed the original score to Aussie filmmaker Quentin Tarentino’s The Hateful Eight in 2015 after becoming annoyed with the way the director used his other music in previous films which were intended for other movies. He won his first Academy Award for his work on the film.
The Italian was nominated for six Oscars, for his work on Days of Heaven, The Mission, The Untouchables, Bugsy, and Malena.
He was classically trained, and was known for working across a vast range of film genres from spaghetti westerns to romance, horror and sci-fi films.
British filmmaker Edgar Wright was one of many within the industry to pay tribute to the late composer.
“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,” said Wright.
“He hasn’t been off my stereo my entire life. What a legacy of work he leaves behind. RIP.”
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. https://t.co/qZX6qE10ke
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) July 6, 2020
Morricone was born in Rome in 1928. He took up the trumpet and wrote his first composition at age six. He worked as an arranger for RCA in Italy, writing songs for pop artists, and began working as a ghostwriter on films in the 1950s.
Throughout his career, he preferred to work in Rome and famously refused to speak any language other than Italian.
Variety estimates that his albums have sold more than 50 million units worldwide.