British composer John Barry has died of a heart attack, it has been announced. Although he is most identified with his James Bond soundtracks, a groundbreaking series of scores that many sought to emulate, he began his career as a jazz performer with his group The John Barry Seven. Films beckoned, however - his father had owned a small cinema chain - and his other scores included both cult and blockbuster works such as Never Let Go, Beat Girl, The Ipcress File, The Knack... and How to Get It, Born Free (for which he won an Oscar), Petulia, The Lion in Winter (another Oscar winner), Midnight Cowboy, Walkabout, They Might Be Giants, Day of the Locust, King Kong ('76), The Deep, Starcrash, The Black Hole, Body Heat, Out of Africa (another Oscar), Howard the Duck, Dances with Wolves (his final Oscar) and Enigma. A hugely impressive body of work, any way you look at it.
