Ennio Morricone (10 November 1928 – 6 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpet player who wrote music in a wide range of styles. He composed over 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as over 100 classical works. His best-known compositions include "The Ecstasy of Gold", "Se telefonando", "Man with a Harmonica", "Here's to You", the UK No. 2 single "Chi mai", "Gabriel's Oboe" and "E più ti penso". In 1971, he received a "Targa d'Oro" for worldwide sales of 22 million, and by 2016 Morricone had sold over 70 million records worldwide. In 2007, he received the Academy Honorary Award "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music." He was nominated for a further six Oscars, and in 2016, received his only competitive Academy Award for his score to Quentin Tarantino's film The Hateful Eight, at the time becoming the oldest person ever to win a competitive Oscar. His other achievements include three Grammy Awards, three Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, ten David di Donatello, eleven Nastro d'Argento, two European Film Awards, the Golden Lion Honorary Award and the Polar Music Prize in 2010. Morricone has influenced many artists from film scoring to other styles and genres, including Hans Zimmer, Danger Mouse, Dire Straits, Muse, Metallica, and Radiohead.
Morricone received his first Academy Award nomination in 1979 for the score to Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978). The Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences, accessed September 2011. Eight years later, Morricone received his second Oscar nomination for The Mission. He also received Oscar nominations for his scores to The Untouchables (1987), Bugsy (1991), Malèna (2000), and The Hateful Eight (2016). In February 2016, Morricone won his first and only competitive Academy Award for his score to The Hateful Eight. Morricone and Alex North are the only composers to receive the Academy Honorary Award since its introduction in 1928. He received the award in February 2007, "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music." In conjunction with the honor, Morricone released a tribute album, We All Love Ennio Morricone, that included as its centerpiece Celine Dion's rendition of "I Knew I Loved You" (based on "Deborah's Theme" from Once Upon a Time in America), which she performed at the ceremony. Behind-the-scenes studio production and recording footage of "I Knew I Loved You" can be viewed in the debut episode of the QuincyJones.com Podcast. The lyric, as with his Love Affair, had been written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Morricone's acceptance speech was in his native Italian tongue and was interpreted by Clint Eastwood.
Major associations Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Ref. 1978 Best Original Score Days of Heaven 1986 The Mission 1987 The Untouchables 1991 Bugsy 2000 Malèna 2006Honorary Academy Award 2015 Best Original Score The Hateful Eight
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.British Academy Film Awards 1979 Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music Days of Heaven 1984 Best Original Score Once Upon a Time in America 1986 The Mission 1987 The Untouchables 1990 Cinema Paradiso 2015 The Hateful Eight
Golden Globe Year Category Nominated work Result Ref. 1981 Best Original Song "It's Wrong For Me To Love You" (from Butterfly) 1984 Best Original Score Once Upon a Time in America 1986 The Mission 1987 The Untouchables 1989 Casualties of War 1991 Bugsy 1999 The Legend of 1900 2000 Malèna 2015 The Hateful Eight
Grammy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Ref. 1988 Best Score Soundtrack The Untouchables 1995 Wolf 1997 The Star Maker 1999 Bulworth 2007 Best Instrumental Performance Once Upon a Time in the West 2009 Grammy Hall of Fame The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 2014 Grammy Trustees Award 2017 Best Score Soundtrack The Hateful Eight Best Instrumental Composition 'L'Ultima Diligenza Di Red Rock – Versione Integrale'
Miscellaneous awards American Film Institute
In 2005 four film scores by Ennio Morricone were nominated by the American Film Institute for an honoured place in the AFI's Top 25 of Best American Film Scores of All Time. His score for The Mission was ranked 23rd in the Top 25 list.
Year Project Category Result 1968 Once Upon a Time in the West Top 25 Best American Film Scores of All Time 1984 Once Upon a Time in America 1986 The Mission 1987 The Untouchables
ASCAP Awards Year Project Category Result 1988 The Untouchables Best Original Score 1994 In the Line of Fire 1994 Life Achievement Award 1995 Wolf Best Original Score
César Awards Year Project Category Result 1980 I... comme Icare Best Original Score 1980 Le Professionnel 2016 En mai, fais ce qu'il te plaît
David di Donatello Awards Year Project Category Result 1981 The Lady of the Camellias Best Original Score Bianco, rosso e Verdone 1988 Gli Occhiali d'Oro 1989 Cinema Paradiso 1990 Mio Caro Dottor Gräsler Best Original Song Stanno Tutti Bene Best Original Score 1993 Jona Che Visse Nella Balena The Escort 1996 The Star Maker 1999 Legend of 1900 2000 Canone inverso 2001 Malèna 2006 50th Anniversary David 2007 La Sconosciuta Best Original Score 2010 Baarìa 2013 The Best Offer 2016 The Correspondence Best Composer
European Film Awards
Year Project Category Result 1999 Lifetime Achievement Award 2005 Fateless Best Composer 2013 The Best Offer
Globo d'oro (Italian Golden Globes)
Year Project Category Result 1993 Jona Che Visse Nella Balena Best Original Score 1993 Il Lungo Silenzio 1994 A Pure Formality 2000 Canone inverso 2013 The Best Offer
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Year Project Category Result 1984 Once Upon a Time in America Best Original Score 1986 The Mission 2001 Career Achievement Award 2015 The Hateful Eight Best Original Score
Nastro d'Argento Award
Year Project Category Result 1964 A Fistful of Dollars Best Original Score 1970 Metti, una sera a cena 1972 Sacco e Vanzetti 1985 Once Upon a Time in America 1988 The Untouchables 1999 Legend of 1900 2000 Canone inverso 2001 Malèna 2004 Al Cuore Si Comanda 2007 La Sconosciuta 2008 I Demoni di San Pietroburgo 2010 Baaria 2013 The Best Offer
Selected other awards
1967: Diapason d'Or 1969: Premio Spoleto Cinema 1972: Cork Film International for Lady Caliph 1979: Premio Vittorio de Sica 1981: Premio della critica discografica for Il prato 1984: Premio Zurlini 1986: Premio Vittorio de Sica 1988: Ninth Annual Ace Winner for Il Giorno prima 1989: Pardo d'Oro alla carriera Locarno Film Festival 1990: Prix Fondation Sacem del XLIII Cannes Film Festival for Nuovo Cinema Paradiso 1992: Pentagramma d'oro 1992: Premio Michelangelo 1992: Grolla d'oro, alla carriera (Saint Vincent) 1993: Efebo d'Argento for Jonas che visse nella balena 1993: Gran Premio SACEM audiovisivi 1994: ASCAP Golden Soundtrack Award (Los Angeles) 1994: 7 d'Or, "Best Music" for La piovra, 1995: Premio Rota 1995: Golden Lion Honorary Award by the Venice Film Festival 1996: Premio città di Roma 1996: Premio Cappelli 1996: Premio Accademia di Santa Cecilia 1997: Premio Flaiano 1998: Columbus Prize 1999: Erich Wolfgang Korngold Internationaler Preis für Film 2000: Honorary Degree by the University of Cagliari 2001: Mikeldi de Honor at "Zinebi – International Festival of Documentary and Short Films" of Bilbao 2002: Honorary Degree by the "Seconda Università" of Rome 2003: Golden Eagle Award by the Russian National Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of Russia for 72 Meters (film) 2003: Honorary Senator of the Filmscoring Class of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München 2006: Grand Officer OMRI, nominated by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi 2007: The Film & TV Music Award for Lifetime Achievement 2008: Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit, Chile's highest award for the arts 2008: Knight of the Legion of Honour 2009: Medal of Merits for Macedonia 2009: America Award of the Italy–USA Foundation 2010: Polar Music Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of the Arts 2012: Per Artem ad Deum Medal 2013: Special Award for Career Achievement at the Online Film Critics Society Awards 2013: Honoris Causa honorary academic degree at New Bulgarian University 2016: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Live Performance/Theatre. 2019: Pontifical Gold Medal from Pope Francis, presented by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi 2020: Camille Award 2020: Princess of Asturias Award in the category of Arts
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