Lalo Schifrin, the legendary composer who penned the Mission: Impossible theme and did scores for more than 100 other films and TV shows ranging from The Cincinnati Kid, Cool Hand Luke and The Sting II to Dirty Harry and the Rush Hour trilogy, has died. He was 93.
His son, writer-director Ryan Schifrin, confirmed to Deadline that his father died “peacefully” on Thursday morning.
Also a pianist and conductor, Schifrin won four Grammys on 19 career nominations spanning 40 years and was six-time Academy Award nominee for The Sting II, The Competition, The Amityville Horror, Voyage of thye Damned, The Fox and Cool Hand Luke. He received an Honorary Oscar at the 2019 Governor Awards.
He earned three consecutive Grammy noms for the Mission: Impossible theme from 1967-69, and variations of his composition have appeared in all of Tom Cruise’s M:I movies.
In all, he penned more than 100 scores for film and television including Mannix, Bullitt, THX 1138, Enter the Dragon, The Four Musketeers, The Eagle Has Landed, Tango, Bringing Down The House, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, After the Sunset and Abominable.
Among his many conducting credits are the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, theIsrael Philharmonic, Mexico Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Lincoln Center Chamber Orchestra. He also served as music director for the Glendale Symphony Orchestra for six years starting in 1989.
As a jazz pianist, he worked with legends including Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Count Basie, Jon Faddis, James Moody, Louie Bellson and Kenny Burrell.
Born on June 21, 1932, in Bueno Aires, Schifrin was trained in classical music from an early age and went to study at the Paris Conservatory in the early 1950s.
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