Lalo Schifrin, the legendary Argentinian composer behind the themes for “Mission Impossible” and “Starsky and Hutch” – along with feature film classics like “Dirty Harry” and “Cool Hand Luke” – died Thursday morning, TheWrap has learned. He was 93 years old.
The musical craftsman’s career spanned decades. He earned all six of his Academy Award nominations for Best Score in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s – for “Cool Hand Luke” (1968), “The Fox” (1969), “Voyage of the Damned” (1976), “The Amityville Horror (1979), “The Competition” (1980) and “The Sting II” (1983).
He finally earned an honorary Academy Award at the 2019 ceremony, becoming only the third composer to notch the honor.
Schifrin’s son, Ryan, confirmed the news Thursday. “My father lived an amazing life, he got to live his dream and enjoyed working all the way up to the end,” he told TheWrap. “His passion and appetite for life was magnetic. May we all be so lucky to live to 93 doing what we love.
“Personally, we will be grieving this loss deeply because we will miss our dad and grandpa and living in a world without his presence is going to be hard. Thank you for all the love and support. The best way to honor his memory is to go listen to the wide array of music he left behind — not just the movie and TV scores but also his jazz works.”
Additionally, Schifflin won four Grammys and earned 19 nominations during his four decades-long career, several of which were for his work on the “Mission: Impossible” films.
The composer implemented a diverse range of musical genres into his film and TV scores, from jazz and rock to modern and complex orchestral writing techniques. He was born in Buenos Aires in 1932 to the concertmaster of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic. While studying piano at Colegio Nacional University Buenos Aires, he paid to smuggle American jazz records that were then forbidden by Juan Perón’s authoritarian regime. He then went on to study at the Paris Conservatory in the early 1950s, where he became a professional jazz pianist, composer and arranger.
His reputation as an innovative jazz composer took him to Hollywood to write for TV and films. Schifrin wrote the music for more than 40 TV-movies and miniseries in addition to scoring documentaries, concerts and major film productions.
The musician conducted orchestras across the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, Mexico Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Lincoln Center Chamber Orchestra.
His last major work was a collaboration with fellow Argentinian composer Rod Schejtman called “Long Live Freedom.” The 35-minute symphony dedicated to their home country debuted April 5 at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
Schifrin is survived by wife Donna, three children and four grandchildren.
Variety first reported the news.
