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William Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor, best known for his film scores, including '' Rocky'' (and four of its sequels), '' The Karate Kid'' (and all of its sequels), '' For Your Eyes Only'', ''
Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
'' (and its sequel '' The Colbys''), '' The Big Chill'' and '' The Right Stuff'', which earned him an
Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by ...
. He also received nominations in the Best Original Song category for " Gonna Fly Now" from ''Rocky'' and for the title song of '' For Your Eyes Only''. He was the musical director at the Academy Awards a record nineteen times.


Biography


Early life

Conti, an Italian American, was born in
Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, the son of Lucetta and William Conti. He graduated from
North Miami High School North Miami Senior High School (NMSHS) is a public high school in North Miami, Florida, United States. Located at 13110 NE 8th Avenue, The school opened as Edward L. Constance Junior-Senior High School in 1951; with 1,500 students in 7th, 8th and ...
in 1959. He is a past winner of the Silver Knight Award presented by the Miami Herald. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University School of Music, and also studied and gained honors at the
Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...
of Music, including a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
.


''Rocky'' series

As early as 1971, Bill was orchestrating pop recordings by Italian artists, such as the album ''Sì... incoerenza'' ("Yes to Incoherence") by Italian singer Patty Pravo. He was also a ghostwriter of the scores for
Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most ...
s. Conti's big break into celebrity came in 1976, when
United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...
hired him to compose the music for a small film called '' Rocky''. The film became a phenomenon and won three Oscars at the 49th Academy Awards, including Best 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 for Best Original Song. Conti also composed music for the sequels '' Rocky II'' (1979), '' Rocky III'' (1982), '' Rocky V'' (1990) and '' Rocky Balboa'' (2006).


Other film and television credits

Conti also worked for some other films and, eventually, for television series. In 1981, he wrote the music for the
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...
film '' For Your Eyes Only'', when John Barry was unwilling to return to the United Kingdom for tax reasons, and provided the score for playwright Jason Miller's film version of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play '' That Championship Season'' the following year. In 1983, Conti composed the score for HBO's first film, ''The Terry Fox Story''. He then did '' Bad Boys'', '' Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story'', '' The Big Chill'' and '' Mass Appeal''. In 1984, he won an Academy Award for composing the score to 1983's '' The Right Stuff'', after which he wrote the music for the TV series '' North and South'' in 1985. He also scored the '' Masters of the Universe'' live action film. Another score was the 1987 film ''
Happy New Year The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...
''. In 1991, Conti composed for '' Necessary Roughness'', a college football film. In 1993, he wrote the music for ''
The Adventures of Huck Finn ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' or as it is known in more recent editions, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', is a novel by American author Mark Twain, which was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United St ...
'' starring Elijah Wood and directed by
Stephen Sommers Stephen Sommers (born March 20, 1962) is an American filmmaker, best known for big-budget action movies, such as '' The Mummy'' (1999), its sequel, '' The Mummy Returns'' (2001), '' Van Helsing'' (2004), and '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' (200 ...
. In 1999, he composed the score for '' The Thomas Crown Affair'' remake, starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. That year, he scored '' Inferno'', starring
Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the a ...
. Conti composed the themes to television's ''
Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
'', '' The Colbys'', '' Falcon Crest'' and '' Cagney & Lacey.'' He wrote the theme song to the original version of '' American Gladiators'', worked with CBS on its 1980s film jingle, composed one of the early themes of ''
Inside Edition ''Inside Edition'' is an American news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed in first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine program that is ...
'', and wrote the '' Primetime Live'' theme for
ABC News ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...
. He composed the score to the studio-altered American version of
Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and ''La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the '' ...
's '' The Big Blue''. Two of Conti's previously composed works were reused for the show '' Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous''. These were the love theme "Come with Me Now", from the soundtrack for '' Five Days from Home'' (used for the show's main theme), and "Runaway", from '' For Your Eyes Only'' (used for in-show content).


Awards and nominations

Conti has been nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one in the Best Original Score category for '' The Right Stuff''. He also received nominations in the Best Original Song category for " Gonna Fly Now" from '' Rocky'' and for the title song of '' For Your Eyes Only''. He had three Golden Globe nominations; two for Best Original Score for '' Rocky'' and '' An Unmarried Woman'', and one for Best Original Song for the title song of '' For Your Eyes Only''. Conti also received thirteen Emmy nominations, all but one for his role as musical director at the
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
(the exception, his first nomination, was for his music for the 1985 series '' North and South''). He won five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Musical Direction for the 64th, 70th and 75th Academy Award ceremonies. On April 22, 2008, at the LSU Union Theatre at Louisiana State University, Conti was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.


Selected discography

*'' Blume in Love'' (1973) *'' Harry and Tonto'' (1974) *'' Next Stop, Greenwich Village'' (1976) *'' Rocky'' (1976) *'' Smash-Up on Interstate 5'' (1976) *'' F.I.S.T'' (1978) *'' Paradise Alley'' (1978) *'' The Big Fix'' (1978) *'' Slow Dancing in the Big City'' (1978) *'' An Unmarried Woman'' (1978) *'' Five Days from Home'' (1978) *'' The Pirate'' (1978) *'' Dreamer'' (1979) *'' Rocky II'' (1979) *'' Goldengirl'' (1979) *'' The Seduction of Joe Tynan'' (1979) *'' A Man, a Woman and a Bank'' (1979) *'' Gloria'' (1980) *'' Private Benjamin'' (1980) *'' The Formula'' (1980) *'' Escape to Victory'' (1981) *'' Carbon Copy'' (1981) *'' For Your Eyes Only'' (1981) *'' Neighbors'' (1981) *'' Rocky III'' (1982) *'' I, the Jury'' (1982) *'' Split Image'' (1982) *''Theme from
Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
'' (1982): The single spent nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 52 in December 1982. *'' That Championship Season'' (1982) *'' Cagney & Lacey'' (1982) *'' Emerald Point N.A.S.'' (1983) *'' Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story'' (1983) *'' Bad Boys'' (1983) *'' The Big Chill'' (1983) (includes other artists) *'' The Right Stuff'' (1983) *'' The Terry Fox Story'' (1983) *'' Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets'' (1984) *'' The Karate Kid'' (1984) *'' The Karate Kid I'', '' II'', ''
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'', '' The Next Karate Kid Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Scores'' (released 2006) *''Theme from Dynasty II: The Colbys'' (1985) *'' North and South'' (1985) *'' Gotcha!'' (1985) *'' F/X'' (1986) *'' The Karate Kid, Part II'' (1986) (released 2011) *''
Nomads A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
'' (1986) *'' Masters of the Universe'' (1987) *'' A Prayer for the Dying'' (1987) *'' Broadcast News'' (1987) *'' A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon'' (1988) *'' Cohen & Tate'' (1988) *'' Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman'' (1989) *'' Lock Up'' (1989) *'' Rocky V'' (1990) *'' Necessary Roughness'' (1991) *'' Year of the Gun'' (1991) *'' Falcon Crest'' (TeeVee Tunes Soundtrack) (1992) *''
Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
'' (TeeVee Tunes Soundtrack) (1992) *'' Blood In Blood Out'' (1993) *''
The Adventures of Huck Finn ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' or as it is known in more recent editions, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', is a novel by American author Mark Twain, which was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United St ...
'' (1993) *'' Rookie of the Year'' (1993) (released 2006) *'' 8 Seconds'' (1994) *'' Bushwhacked'' (1995) (released 2006) *'' Napoleon'' (1995) *'' Spy Hard'' (1996) *'' The Real Macaw'' (1998) *'' Wrongfully Accused'' (1998) *'' Inferno'' (1999) *'' The Thomas Crown Affair'' (1999) (includes other artists) *'' Avenging Angelo'' (2002) *'' Boys on the Run'' (2003) *'' Rocky Balboa'' (2006) *'' Rocky Balboa: The Best of Rocky'' (2006) (includes other artists)


References


External links

*
Interview
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Bill 1942 births Living people 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American composers 21st-century American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) American disco musicians American film score composers American male film score composers American people of Italian descent American television composers Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Louisiana State University School of Music alumni Male television composers Musicians from Providence, Rhode Island Rocky (film series) music Spaghetti Western composers Varèse Sarabande Records artists Primetime Emmy Award winners