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Bill Conti

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Bill Conti
Conti in 2008
Conti in 2008
Background information
Birth nameWilliam Conti
Born(1942-04-13)April 13, 1942(age 82)
Providence, Rhode Island,U.S.
GenresFilm score,disco
Occupation(s)Composer,conductor
Years active1969–present

William Conti(born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor,[1]best known for his film scores, includingRocky(1976),Rocky II(1979),Rocky III(1982),Rocky V(1990),Rocky Balboa(2006),The Karate Kid I(1984),The Karate Kid, Part II(1986),The Karate Kid Part III(1989),The Next Karate Kid(1994),For Your Eyes Only(1981),Dynasty(and its sequelThe Colbys), andThe Right Stuff(1983), which earned him anAcademy Award for Best Original Score.He also received nominations in the Best Original Song category for "Gonna Fly Now"fromRockyand for the title song ofFor Your Eyes Only.He was the musical director at the Academy Awards a record nineteen times.[2]

Conti is known for his collaborations with directorJohn G. Avildsen,having scored fourteen films for Avildsen, beginning withRocky(1976) and ending withInferno(1999). Their collaboration included such pictures as the first three films inThe Karate Kid franchise(1984–1989),Slow Dancing in the Big City(1978),The Formula(1980), andNeighbors(1981).[3]

Biography

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Early life

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Conti, anItalian American,was born inProvidence, Rhode Island,[1]the son of Lucetta and William Conti.[4]He graduated fromNorth Miami High Schoolin 1959.[5]He is a past winner of the Silver Knight Award presented by theMiami Herald.[6]He is a graduate ofLouisiana State University School of Music,[1]where he met his wife Shelby Cox, and earned a master's degree with honors from theJuilliard Schoolof Music.[1]

Rockyseries

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As early as 1971, Bill was orchestrating pop recordings by Italian artists, such as the albumSì... incoerenza( "Yes to Incoherence" ) by Italian singerPatty Pravo.[7]He was also aghostwriterof the scores forSpaghetti Westerns.[4]Conti's big break into celebrity came in 1976, whenUnited Artistshired him to compose the music for a small film calledRocky.[1]The film became a phenomenon and won three Oscars at the49th Academy Awards,includingBest Picture.The same ceremony was also the first time Conti served as musical director for the telecast, a role he reprised 19 times, more than any other person. His training montage tune, "Gonna Fly Now",topped the Billboard singles chart in 1977, and earned him an Academy Award nomination forBest Original Song.[1]

Conti also composed music for the sequelsRocky II(1979),Rocky III(1982),Rocky V(1990)[1]andRocky Balboa(2006).

Other film and television credits

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Conti also worked for some other films and, eventually, for television series. In 1981, he wrote the music for theJames BondfilmFor Your Eyes Only,[1]whenJohn Barrywas unwilling to return to the United Kingdom for tax reasons,[8]and provided the score for playwrightJason Miller's film version of hisPulitzer Prize-winning playThat Championship Seasonthe following year.

In 1983, Conti composed the score for HBO's first film,The Terry Fox Story.[9]He then didBad Boys,Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story,Mass Appeal.[10]In 1984, he won an Academy Award for composing the score to 1983'sThe Right Stuff,[11]after which he wrote the music for the TV seriesNorth and Southin 1985.[12]He also scored theMasters of the Universelive action film. Another score was the 1987 filmHappy New Year.[13]

In 1991, Conti composed forNecessary Roughness,a college football film.[14]In 1993, he wrote the music forThe Adventures of Huck FinnstarringElijah Woodand directed byStephen Sommers.In 1999, he composed the score forThe Thomas Crown Affairremake, starringPierce BrosnanandRene Russo.That year, he scoredInferno,starringJean-Claude Van Damme.[15]

Conti composed the themes to television'sDynasty,[16]The Colbys,Falcon CrestandCagney & Lacey.[17]He wrote the theme song to the original version ofAmerican Gladiators,worked withCBSon its 1980s film jingle, composed one of the early themes ofInside Edition,[18]and wrote thePrimetime Livetheme forABC News.[19]He composed the score to the studio-altered American version ofLuc Besson'sThe Big Blue.[20]

Two of Conti's previously composed works were reused for the showLifestyles of the Rich and Famous.These were the love theme "Come with Me Now", from the soundtrack forFive Days from Home(used for the show's main theme), and "Runaway", fromFor Your Eyes Only(used for in-show content).

Awards and nominations

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Conti has been nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one in theBest Original Scorecategory forThe Right Stuff.[21]He also received nominations in theBest Original Songcategory for "Gonna Fly Now"fromRockyand for the title song ofFor Your Eyes Only.[22]

He had three Golden Globe nominations; two forBest Original ScoreforRockyandAn Unmarried Woman,and one forBest Original Songfor the title song ofFor Your Eyes Only.[23]

Conti also received thirteen Emmy nominations, all but one for his role as musical director at theAcademy Awards(the exception, his first nomination, was for his music for the 1985 seriesNorth and South). He won five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Musical Direction for the64th,70thand75thAcademy Award ceremonies.[24]

On April 22, 2008, at the LSU Union Theatre at Louisiana State University, Conti was inducted into theLouisiana Music Hall of Fame.[25]

Selected discography

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References

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  1. ^abcdefghColin Larkin,ed. (1997).The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music(Concise ed.).Virgin Books.pp. 297/8.ISBN1-85227-745-9.
  2. ^"The Music Behind the Screen: Cue Bill Conti".Music Behind the Screen.February 24, 2014. Archived fromthe originalon November 19, 2015.RetrievedDecember 11,2014.
  3. ^"Inferno - Bill Conti - soundtrack (CD)".
  4. ^abMacDonald, Laurence E. (2013).The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History.Lanham, Maryland:The Scarecrow Press.p. 324.ISBN978-0-8108-9058-9.
  5. ^"North Miami High School Alumni Events » Famous Pioneers".Archived fromthe originalon December 13, 2014.RetrievedDecember 22,2011.
  6. ^Dahlberg, Nancy (October 30, 2017)."Silver Knight Scholarship Endowment Fund launches with more than $3 million in grants".Miami Herald.RetrievedSeptember 8,2019.
  7. ^Cusimano, Clarissa (July 23, 2020)."Patty Pravo, vita, figli e amori: tutto sulla cantante nota come La Ragazza del Piper".LettoQuotidiano.it(in Italian).RetrievedJuly 23,2020.
  8. ^Simpson, Paul (2015).Bond Vs. Bond: The Many Faces of 007.New York:Race Point Publishing.p. 138.ISBN978-1-63106-000-7.
  9. ^Newman, Peter C.(May 30, 1983)."The Terry Fox project in black".Maclean's.Archived fromthe originalon June 24, 2021.RetrievedDecember 11,2014.
  10. ^Maslin, Janet(December 17, 1984)."JACK LEMMON IN 'MASS APPEAL'".The New York Times.RetrievedDecember 11,2014.
  11. ^MacDonald, Laurence E. (2013).The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History.Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press. p. 323.ISBN978-0-8108-9058-9.
  12. ^Brode, Douglas; Brode, Shea T.; Miller, Cynthia J. (2017).The American Civil War on Film and TV: Blue and Gray in Black and White and Color.Lanham, Maryland:Le xing ton Books.p. 204.ISBN978-1-4985-6688-9.
  13. ^Powell, Larry; Garrett, Tom (2013).The Films of John G. Avildsen: Rocky, The Karate Kid and Other Underdogs.Jefferson, North Carolina:McFarland & Company.p. 151.ISBN978-0-7864-6692-4.
  14. ^Johnson, Malcolm L. (September 28, 1991)."UNNECESSARY 'ROUGHNESS' IS PREDICTABLE, COLLEGE-GRIDIRON PICTURE".Hartford Courant.RetrievedDecember 11,2014.
  15. ^Powell & Garrett 2013,p. 217.
  16. ^Gripsrud, Jostein(2003).The Dynasty Years: Hollywood Television and Critical Media Studies.London, United Kingdom:Routledge.p. 46.ISBN0-415-08598-5.
  17. ^Torres, Agnes (July 6, 1986)."COMPOSER BILL CONTI IS A MASTER OF MOVIE MUSIC".Orlando Sentinel.RetrievedDecember 11,2014.
  18. ^Horovitz, Bruce (May 21, 1991)."Killer Music Signs Big Names to Do Product Jingles".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedDecember 11,2014.
  19. ^Carter, Bill (August 8, 1989)."A Ripple of Interest for 'PrimeTime Live'".The New York Times.RetrievedDecember 11,2014.
  20. ^Lanzoni, Rémi Fournier (2015).French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present.New York and London:Bloomsbury Academic.p. 346.ISBN978-1-5013-0307-4.
  21. ^"The 56th Academy Awards (1984) Nominees and Winners".Oscars.org.RetrievedAugust 11,2014.
  22. ^"COMPOSER CONTI WILL CONDUCT AT 62ND ACADEMY AWARDS".Deseret News.January 24, 1990.RetrievedDecember 11,2014.
  23. ^"Bill Conti".Golden Globe Awards.RetrievedDecember 11,2014.
  24. ^"Awards Search".Emmys.Archived fromthe originalon August 21, 2018.RetrievedAugust 11,2014.
  25. ^"BILL CONTI - 2008".Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.Archived fromthe originalon December 24, 2014.RetrievedDecember 11,2014.
  26. ^"Bill Conti: Chart History".Billboard.RetrievedSeptember 8,2019.
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