Lalo Schifrin, composer of 'Mission: Impossible' score, dies aged 93
Famed composer Lalo Schifrin, who created themes for a host of hit Hollywood films and television shows -- including the instantly recognizable "Mission: Impossible" score -- died Thursday aged 93, US media reported.
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.
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Euronews
15 hours ago
- Euronews
Celebrated composer of the 'Mission: Impossible' theme dies aged 93
Lalo Schifrin, the Argentine-American composer who wrote the iconic theme for Mission: Impossible and more than 100 other arrangements for film and television, has died aged 93. Schifrin's son Ryan confirmed that Schifrin died on Thursday due to complications from pneumonia. Schifrin won four Grammys and was nominated for six Oscars, including five for original score for Cool Hand Luke, The Fox, Voyage of the Damned, The Amityville Horror and The Sting II. His other best-known compositions include the scores to Bullitt, THX 1138, Enter The Dragon, The Eagle Has Landed, and his collaborations with Clint Eastwood from the late 1960s to the 1980s, particularly the Dirty Harry films. He also composed the TV themes for The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Mannix and Starsky and Hutch, and famously wrote the grand finale musical performance for the World Cup championship in Italy in 1990, in which the Three Tenors - Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras - sang together for the first time. The work became one of the biggest sellers in the history of classical music. Schifrin, also a jazz pianist and classical conductor, had a remarkable career in music that included working with Dizzy Gillespie and recording with Count Basie and Sarah Vaughan. But perhaps his biggest contribution was the instantly recognizable score to television's Mission: Impossible, which fueled the decades-spanning feature film franchise led by Tom Cruise – which apparently wrapped up this year with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Written in the unusual 5/4 time signature, the theme was married to an on-screen self-destruct clock that kicked off the TV show, which ran from 1966 to 1973. It was described as 'only the most contagious tune ever heard by mortal ears' by New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane and even hit No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. Born Boris Claudio Schifrin to a Jewish family in Buenos Aires - where his father was the concertmaster of the philharmonic orchestra - Schifrin was classically trained in music, in addition to studying law. After studying at the Paris Conservatory - where he learned about harmony and composition from the legendary Olivier Messiaen - Schifrin returned to Argentina and formed a concert band. Gillespie heard Schifrin perform and asked him to become his pianist, arranger and composer. In 1958, Schifrin moved to the United States, playing in Gillespie's quintet in 1960-62 and composing the acclaimed 'Gillespiana'. The long list of luminaries he performed and recorded with includes Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Dee Dee Bridgewater and George Benson. He also worked with such classical stars as Zubin Mehta, Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniel Barenboim and others. He's survived by his sons, Ryan and William, daughter, Frances, and wife, Donna.
France 24
20 hours ago
- France 24
Lalo Schifrin, composer of 'Mission: Impossible' score, dies aged 93
Famed composer Lalo Schifrin, who created themes for a host of hit Hollywood films and television shows -- including the instantly recognizable "Mission: Impossible" score -- died Thursday aged 93, US media reported. 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.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
'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." © 2025 AFP
