'Mission: Impossible' composer Lalo Schifrin dies aged 93
Born in Argentina, Schifrin blended the influences of his classical and symphonic training with jazz and modern sounds in his diverse and vast oeuvre, which includes the scores for around 100 films, some of them the best-known of their generation.
His death was confirmed by his son, Ryan Schifrin, to several entertainment trade publications.
Schifrin's work for film includes "The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and "Bullitt" (1968), both with Steve McQueen, Paul Newman's "Cool Hand Luke" (1968), and Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry" (1971).
He also created the score to the 1960s "Mission: Impossible" television series, which inspired the theme of the massive film franchise starring Tom Cruise.
A pipe-smoker in his younger years and bespectacled with a mane of silver hair later, he was also a highly respected international orchestra conductor and jazz pianist.
Boris Claudio Schifrin was born in Buenos Aires on June 21, 1932 into a musical family, his father Luis Schifrin being the concert master of the city's Philharmonic Orchestra for 25 years.
He learned piano at a young age, developing an extensive knowledge of classical music.
His introduction in his teens to jazz and the American sound -- through its greats such as Charlie Parker, George Gershwin and Louis Armstrong -- was like a conversion, he would say later, and set his life on a new course.
After training in Paris, Schifrin returned to Buenos Aires and set up his own big band, with a performance notably impressing jazz legend trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
"So after we finished, Dizzy came to me and said, did you write all these charts? And I said, yes. Would you like to come to United States? I thought he was joking. He wasn't," Schifrin recounted to NPR in 2007.
"I wouldn't be here had it not been for that moment," he told the US radio.
Schifrin moved to the United States in 1958 and became a US citizen over a decade later.
In Hollywood, television producer Bruce Geller asked him to create scores for his television series "Mission: Impossible" (1966) and "Mannix" (1969).
Geller's brief was for "a theme that's exciting, promising, but not too heavy" and anticipates the action to follow, Schifrin told NPR in 2015.
Geller said that when "people go to the kitchen and get a Coca-Cola, I want them to hear the theme and say, Oh, this is 'Mission: Impossible'," he recounted.
The score he delivered earned Schifrin two Grammy music awards in 1967, adding to two for the albums "The Cat" (1964) and "Jazz Suite On The Mass Texts" (1965).
Shifrin received several Academy Award nominations for his film work including for "Cool Hand Luke."
In 2018, he received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement, presented by Eastwood.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
08-08-2025
- News.com.au
‘Shouldn't you be at work?': Surfer reveals he is ‘working from home'
'Shouldn't you be at work?' It's the question pretty much anyone who has scored a day off during the work week has felt like asking at one point or another. You might think having a free midweek day is the perfect opportunity to visit somewhere you would usually avoid because of weekend crowds. But then you arrive only to discover it is still packed, making you wonder, don't any of these people have jobs? This is exactly how Zalo, a 28-year-old expat living on the Gold Coast, felt when he recently had the opportunity to head down to the beach during the work week. So, he decided to ask the question. Walking up to a surfer who had just gotten out of the water, Zalo asked: 'It's 11am on a weekday and you are surfing. Shouldn't you be at work?' The man revealed he was 'working from home' that day, confirming he was on the clock and 'getting paid'. Zalo, who is originally from Argentina, has always been 'obsessed' with the ocean, taking any opportunity he can to get out on the water 'The idea for the video came from something I do all the time. Whenever I get a break at work, I check the surf cams to see where I'll paddle out later and, no matter the time, there's always a crew out there surfing,' he told 'It made me wonder who are these people? How are they living this life while the rest of us are stuck working?' Zalo happened to have a day of annual leave booked in, so he went to the beach to ask the question he, and everyone else, wanted answered. When he gets the chance to head down to the water midweek, he said the other people he meets are often FIFO workers, retired or people who work for themselves. Zalo loves seeing people out enjoying themselves during the week and is all for 'questioning the 9-5' and 'designing a lifestyle that fits you'. 'That's what I want to share through my videos and maybe get a few laughs along the way,' he said. Speaking to recruitment specialist and author of Earning Power, Roxanne Calder, said the 9-5 model was 'broken long before we started working from our dining room tables'. She said a remote worker stepping out during their work day isn't automatically a problem, with issues arising if doing so causes them to not deliver on their responsibilities. 'For most employees, the whole reason for wanting the WFH or hybrid model is for this sort of flexibility, yes even surfing at 11am,' Ms Calder said, adding that most employees are aware of this. The workplace expert said there needs to be more transparency and communication around this topic. 'Maybe less about 'but I'm more productive and get more work done' to 'WFH allows me flexibility to exercise and better wellbeing',' she said. 'For many people, stepping out for a surf or gym session isn't slacking; it's how they manage energy, focus, and mental clarity. 'The future of work isn't about face time but about trust, output and productivity.' However, that is not to say it is fine to disappear at different times throughout the work day, with Ms Calder saying doing this regularly without context isn't flexibility, it is avoidance. She warned it could even be viewed as an 'abuse of trust'. 'Of course, this doesn't mean logging every step, but in a remote world, transparency is the new visibility. How is your absence perceived?' she said. 'Trust is fragile and some employers will fill in the blanks if you're off-site for too long.' The way the workday looks is continuing to shift, with the rise in remote and hybrid working arrangements playing a major role in that. Given this, Ms Calder said it would be 'unreasonable and unrealistic' to pretend we can draw clear lines between work and our personal lives. However, that doesn't mean structure can be completely abandoned. 'What we need now is adult-to-adult working relationships: clear expectations, honest conversations, and a little grace,' she said. 'If someone's surfing at 11am on a weekday, but getting results, and showing up where it counts? That's not slacking. That's a different way of working, and for a lot of people, it's working better. 'Again, it comes back to accountability and responsibility. That's not a red flag; that's modern work done well.'
News.com.au
28-07-2025
- News.com.au
Tom Cruise and Ana de Armas spotted at Oasis concert as romance rumours heat up
Tom Cruise and Ana de Armas were spotted together at Oasis' concert over the weekend. The pair was caught enjoying the show in a video posted on Instagram by English producer and DJ Goldie. The Mission: Impossible star can be seen reaching for his rumoured girlfriend's hand as the band performed at Wembley Stadium in London. The Top Gun actor appeared to be in high spirits as he also posed for a smiling selfie with Goldie during the show. Page Six reached out to reps for Cruise and de Armas for comment. The duo has yet to confirm their relationship despite being spotted on several outings this year. Cruise, 63, and de Armas, 37, were first linked in February when they grabbed dinner together in London and shared a taxi as they exited. An insider told People at the time that it was a professional dinner, explaining the stars were 'discussing potential collaborations down the line.' But their excursions didn't stop there. The Knives Out actress celebrated her 37th birthday with Cruise in London in May. They were spotted taking a helicopter ride together on May 1, with a source exclusively telling us that they shared a lavish meal the next evening in London's swanky Marylebone district. The Jerry Maguire actor and the Blonde actress also enjoyed a walk in a London park during that same trip. Not long after her birthday celebration, the pair made headlines for sneaking out of David Beckham's 50th birthday together. They were photographed ducking down in the back seat of a black SUV while leaving the party. Later that month, the actress raved about her 'fun' relationship with Cruise and dished on 'a few projects' they were working on together. 'It's so much fun. We're definitely working on a lot of things. Not just one, but a few projects with Doug Liman and Christopher McQuarrie and, of course, Tom. And I'm so excited,' she said on Good Morning America in May. In June, they were spotted having dinner at Annabel's in London, with a source telling Page Six that they have also dined in a private room at the swanky members-only club 'a couple of times over the past two months.' 'Tom looks enchanted by her,' the insider told us at the time. 'And she looks very happy with him.' Earlier this month, Cruise and de Armas went on a private Spanish getaway where they enjoyed a private boat ride and soaked up some sun. The Risky Business actor has kept his love life private over the years, but was most recently romantically linked to Victoria Canal last summer — though Canal denied the rumours. De Armas, for her part, was seen kissing Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel's stepson, Manuel Anido Cuesta, in November 2024.
The Australian
28-07-2025
- The Australian
The Australian Wine Club: Argentine wines for a sensational barbecue
Slowly they grow together, no one quite sure which came first, until their partnership is as natural as Lennon and McCartney or Romeo and Juliet. An alchemy takes place when a region's food and wine find themselves so simpatico that somehow it feels indecent to order one without the other. The fattened lambs of northern Spain are at their best when partnering a glass of local Rioja. The bright acidity of a Loire Valley sauvignon blanc sings in combination with a goat's cheese made down the road. In Argentina, the ritual of the asado is far more than a barbecue – it's social communion, families and neighbourhoods brought together by a plate of slowly grilled meat in one hand and a glass of malbec in the other. The pairing of beef from the flat grasslands in the centre of the country and the bold reds from up in the foothills of the Andes isn't a cliche so much as a national celebration. At a point in the year when gathering around a fire is an essential ritual of the season, the quartet of Argentine reds in this week's special offer case from The Australian Wine Club is particularly timely. Wines from Mendoza feature in this week's special offer. Three are malbecs but set apart by fascinating regional differences: HJ Fabre's 2023 Patagonia Malbec (RRP $40) scored 93 points from highly respected British Master of Wine Tim Atkin; a 2020 Parcela Selecta Malbec (RRP $42) offers a superbly balanced drinking experience, while The Holdings 2024 Malbec (RRP $28) comes from a lauded bodega in the Mendoza region. Add to that another Mendoza standout, the Reservado Cabernet Franc, also from HJ Fabre, plus a case discount of 36 per cent, and the temptation to host an asado is growing by the minute. 'Every time I go there it's all about asado,' says Leo Bassano, The Australian Wine Club's Argentinian authority, who is perpetually on the hunt for Argentine vintages worth having. 'Asado is much more than a way of cooking meat. Every region has its own cuts and a special way of seasoning the meat, but it's all about the fire and a couple of drinks, and then hours and hours of just chatting and eating. 'There is a glass of malbec all the time, of course, because it's the best match.' The funny thing is that Argentines knew the value in that match for generations but most of the rest of the world had little idea, at least until some 30 years ago. 'In the 1990s, everything changed for Argentina as a wine country,' Bassano says. 'Back then Argentina was not on the worldwide map for wine, basically was not on the radar. 'There were stories of companies trying to pull out the malbec vines from the ground and they were trying to get famous consultants from around the world to grow chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon because they wanted to get into the international markets. 'Everything changed in the 1990s with winemakers from Europe who actually went there, they started consulting, they started investing and they completely changed the course of Argentina, especially with malbec.' Parcela Selecta Malbec 2020 Glinting an inkily dark purple in the glass, this offers dark red fruits on the nose with a wash of mocha, vanilla and spice. From the first sip there's a lovely texture and weight, superb balance and silky smooth tannins that would marry happily with the sort of slow-grilled meat described above. Dried herbs and aniseed provide the undertow and a lick of acidity keeps it super fresh. 14% alc, RRP $42 a bottle. SPECIALS $33.99 in any dozen, $23.99 in our Argentine dozen. HJ Fabre Reservado Cabernet Franc 2023 An increasingly interesting varietal in Argentina's canon, this iteration has an almost perfumed nose. Awash with floral notes, rose petals, cedar and turned earth, there's also flashes of vanilla and tobacco. The palate, though, is all about red fruits held in firm, rounded tannins with just a hint of cedar and spice. Also great with food but delicious any which way. 93 points, Descorchados Wine Guide. 14% alc, RRP $40 a bottle. SPECIALS $32.99 in any dozen, $23.99 in our Argentine dozen. HJ Fabre Barrel Selection Patagonia Malbec 2023 For a perfect contrast, try this Fabre stablemate offering a nose flecked with plum, graphite, vanilla and just a hint of dried herbs, especially tarragon. On the tongue there's a beautiful velvety texture – full-bodied and smooth with a polished quality and lovely freshness. The flavours of ripe, spicy plums and blueberry are concentrated, with a little espresso on the finish. 93 points, Descorchados Wine Guide. 14.5% alc, RRP $40 a bottle. SPECIALS $32.99 in any dozen, $23.99 in our Argentine dozen. The Holdings Malbec 2024 The macerated strawberries, plum and hints of lavender on the nose tell you this is designed to please, and the soft, medium-bodied palate underlines its appeal. There's more plum and strawberry in the mouth, vanilla, spice and a few smoky notes to add a savoury edge. The length is pleasingly long thanks to silky, soft tannins. 13% alc, RRP $28. SPECIALS $19.99 in any dozen, $23.99 in our Argentine dozen. ARGENTINE DOZEN Three bottles of each wine above for $23.99 a $162. Order online or phone 1300 765 359 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AEST and quote 'AC4D'. Deals are available only while stocks last. The Australian Wine Club is a commercial partnership with Laithwaites Wine, LIQP770016550.
