Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included ''

Where Eagles Dare ''Where Eagles Dare'' is a 1968 action adventure war film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. Set during World War II, it follows a Special Operations Executive team charged with saving a ca ...

'', ''

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

'', '' 633 Squadron'', Margaret Rutherford's

Miss Marple Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one ...

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

, and '' Frenzy''. Born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England, Goodwin learned to play the piano and trumpet from the age of five which allowed him to join the school band. When he was nine, the family moved to Harrow, London, where he attended Willesden County School and

Pinner County Grammar School Pinner County Grammar School was a grammar school in Pinner, Middlesex, from 1937 to 1974. From 1974 to 1982 it became Pinner Junior College and then Pinner Sixth Form College. Pinner County Grammar School was built to accommodate 508 boys and g ...

, in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. From there he went on to study the trumpet in London at the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

. Whilst working as a copyist, he formed his own orchestra in his spare time and began arranging and conducting recordings for over fifty performers, which resulted in more than 100 chart successes. He wrote his first feature film score for ''

Whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

'', with screenplay by Lawrence P. Bachmann. After Bachmann became executive producer at

MGM-British Studios MGM-British was a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer initially established (as MGM London Films Denham) at Denham Film Studios in 1936. It was in limbo during the Second World War; however, following the end of hostilities, a facility was acquired ...

in 1959, Goodwin composed and conducted the music for most of its productions, as well as working for other film studios. In the 1980s Goodwin began concentrating on live orchestral performances and appeared as guest conductor with many

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

s at home and abroad including the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...

and the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

Biography

Early life

Goodwin was born in

to James Goodwin (died 1952), a policeman with the Metropolitan Police Force and Bessie Violet Goodwin née Godsland (died 1966), a clothing machinist and daughter of a labourer. James was originally from London, but had moved to

after being assigned to the Metropolitan Police's No. 3 (Devonport Dockyard) Division, marrying Bessie in her birthplace of Devonport in 1920.Lamb, Andrew
''Goodwin, Ron'', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''
Oxford University Press, online edition, 30 December 2011 Goodwin learned to play the piano by the age of five and returned to London four years later, where he attended Willesden County Grammar School. Whilst there, he learnt to play the trumpet and performed regularly in the school band. Upon the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the family moved to Harrow,

, and Goodwin attended

. It was here that he formed his own band – ''Ron Goodwin and the Woodchoppers''. He later studied the trumpet in London at the

Early career

In 1943, after a brief spell as an insurance clerk, Goodwin joined Campbell, Connelly and Company, a music publisher. His job was a copyist and arranger and went on to work in that role for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. He entered the world of movie music through documentary films, which he said was "a very good training". He worked as a

ghostwriter A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...

for Phil Green, Stanley Black, Geraldo and Peter Yorke among others. From 1949, Goodwin conducted for the Polygon company, arranging and conducting recordings of

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

and Jimmy Young, including the latter's 1951 UK no 1 hit "Too Young". In the 1950s he joined

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

, and worked alongside

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

. He accompanied

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

on his '' Goodness Gracious Me'' album, and began to broadcast and make records with his Ron Goodwin Concert Orchestra. In 1953, Goodwin began arranging and conducting more than 300 recordings for over fifty performers, which resulted in more than 100 chart successes. He simultaneously made his own series of recordings and broadcasts as Ron Goodwin and his Concert Orchestra, and, in addition, began to compose scores for documentary films at Merton Park Studios. In 1958, Goodwin wrote his first feature film score for ''

'', with screenplay by Lawrence P. Bachmann. After Bachmann became executive producer at MGM British Studios in 1959, Goodwin composed and conducted the music for most of its productions, as well as working for other film studios. His singles work included recordings with jazz and calypso singer Frank Holder.

Works

Goodwin is primarily known for his film music and worked on more than 70 scores during his career. He composed his first feature film, '' Man with a Gun'' in 1958 and was quickly followed by ''The Witness'' and ''Whirlpool'' a year later. Early minor film success followed with several films until 1961 when he composed scores for the first of four

films starring

Margaret Rutherford Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, film and television. Rutherford came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's ''Blithe Spirit (1945 f ...

, entitled '' Murder, She Said'' (1961). He later went on to compose for the remaining three Miss Marple films '' Murder at the Gallop'' (1963), '' Murder Most Foul'' (1963) and '' Murder Ahoy'' (1964). He scored two horror films, '' Village of the Damned'' (1960) and its sequel '' Children of the Damned'' (1964). His music for war films is particularly well remembered. This includes work on '' 633 Squadron'' (1964), ''

Operation Crossbow ''Crossbow'' was the code name in World War II for Anglo-American operations against the German V-weapons, long range reprisal weapons (V-weapons) programme. The primary V-weapons were the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket, which were launched agai ...

'' (1965), ''

'' (1968), ''

'' (1969), for which he (mostly) replaced

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

, plus '' Force Ten from Navarone'' (1978). After requests from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, the opening from ''Battle of Britain'', originally titled ''Luftwaffe March'', was retitled ''

Aces High Aces High may refer to: *Aces High (comics), ''Aces High'' (comics), a comic book series by EC Comics *Aces High (video game), ''Aces High'' (video game), a combat flight simulator/massively multiplayer online game *Aces High (film), ''Aces High'' ...

'' and is now regularly played by military bands in the UK. He wrote the scores for '' Of Human Bondage'' (1964), '' Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines'' (1965),

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's '' Frenzy'' (1972, replacing

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...

), two movies featuring Morecambe and Wise, and the

Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010), was an English actor, comedian, musician, and singer, best known for his series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966, in which he portrayed the endearingly inept charact ...

film, ''

The Early Bird ''The Early Bird'' is a 1965 British comedy film directed by Robert Asher (director), Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisdom, Edward Chapman (actor), Edward Chapman, Bryan Pringle, Richard Vernon, John Le Mesurier and Jerry Desmonde. It was t ...

'' (1965). Goodwin's score for the 1966 film ''The Trap'' is now used by the BBC as the theme to the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

coverage. A 30-second variation of his 1969 composition for the film '' Monte Carlo or Bust'' is used as the intro for the

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at B ...

panel game ''

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' is a BBC radio comedy panel game. Billed as "the antidote to panel games", it consists of two teams of two comedians being given "silly things to do" by the host. The show was launched in April 1972 as a parody of ...

''. Goodwin wrote several Disney film scores during the 1970s, including the one used for '' One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing'' (1975). He also composed the music and lyrics for a series of animated films. These included ''The Selfish Giant'' (1971), ''The Happy Prince'' (1974), and ''The Little Mermaid'' (also 1974). Goodwin's last film score was for the Danish-made animation film ''

Valhalla In Norse mythology, Valhalla ( , ; , )Orchard (1997:171–172) is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. There were five possible realms the soul could travel to after death. The first was Fólkvang ...

'' in 1986. He composed the

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

start up music used from their launch in July 1968 to the early 1980s, before ITV had breakfast television. Goodwin wrote the television advertising jingles such as Noddy's chant, "I like Ricicles: they're twicicle as nicicles", and the " Mr Sheen shines umpteen things clean" song, inspired by ''Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines''.

Later career

By 1987, Goodwin had begun concentrating on live orchestrations which included his "Drake 400 Suite" in 1980 and "Armada Suite" in 1988. His "New Zealand Suite" in 1983 marked a long association with the

, Goodwin appeared as guest conductor with many symphony orchestras at home and abroad including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra,

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra is a full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. Based in Belfast, the orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United Kingdom ...

, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Australian Pops Orchestra, Danish Radio Orchestra and the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

. Goodwin was guest conductor at the Royal Academy of Music's Festival of British and American Film Music in June 1996.

Awards

In 1972, Goodwin recorded ''Somebody Named Ron Goodwin Plays Somebody Named Burt Bacharach'' and recorded internationally, winning gold and platinum discs awarded by EMI. He won a platinum disc from EMI New Zealand to mark two million sales of the album "Going Places". During his career he won three

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

, including a lifetime achievement award, and was a Fellow of the City of Leeds College of Music and a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

. Goodwin was nominated for the

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

award for best original score for the movie '' Frenzy'' (1972).

Personal life

Goodwin was married twice and had a son, Chris, from his first marriage. Ron Shillingford, Goodwin's personal assistant for over twenty years, said of him: "Ron was a musical perfectionist who had a fine rapport with his fellow artists. He was a kind, caring man, with a wonderful sense of humour." Goodwin was enthusiastic about working with young people and was heavily involved with the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra, Worthing Youth Orchestra, City of Leeds College of Music and the City of Birmingham Schools' Concert Orchestra. The road in which Goodwin lived with his family in

has since been renamed Goodwin Crescent in his memory.

Death

In December 2002, Goodwin completed his 32nd consecutive year of Christmas concerts in packed venues across the South of England. However, he had suffered from

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

for many years and the condition had worsened with age. On 7 January 2003, having completed conducting a series of Christmas concerts with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, he returned home and died in his sleep at Blacknest Cottage, Brimpton Common, Hampshire, on 8 January 2003, aged 77.

Selected filmography

*'' Man with a Gun'' (1958) *'' I'm All Right Jack'' (1959) *''

'' (1959) *''

The Trials of Oscar Wilde ''The Trials of Oscar Wilde'', also known as ''The Man with the Green Carnation'' and ''The Green Carnation'', is a 1960 British drama film based on the libel and subsequent criminal cases involving Oscar Wilde and the Marquess of Queensberry. I ...

'' (1960) *'' Village of the Damned'' (1960) *'' Murder She Said'' (1961) *'' Partners in Crime'' (1961) *'' Man at the Carlton Tower'' (1961) *'' Johnny Nobody'' (1961) *''

Invasion Quartet ''Invasion Quartet'' is a 1961 British World War II comedy-drama film directed by Jay Lewis and starring Bill Travers and Spike Milligan. It was publicised as a parody of ''The Guns of Navarone (film), The Guns of Navarone''. The screenplay was ...

'' (1961) *'' Village of Daughters'' (1961) *'' I Thank a Fool'' (1962) *'' Kill or Cure'' (1962) *'' Postman's Knock'' (1962) *'' The Day of the Triffids'' (1962) *'' Lancelot and Guinevere'' (1963) *'' Follow the Boys'' (1963) *'' Murder at the Gallop'' (1963) *''

Ladies Who Do ''Ladies Who Do'' is a 1963 British comedy film directed by C. M. Pennington-Richards and starring Peggy Mount, Robert Morley and Harry H. Corbett. It was written by Michael Pertwee and John Bignall. Plot Mrs. Cragg works as a charwoman f ...

'' (1963) *'' Children of the Damned'' (1964) *'' Murder Most Foul'' (1964) *'' Murder Ahoy'' (1964) *'' Of Human Bondage'' (1964) *'' 633 Squadron'' (1964) *'' Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines'' (1965) *'' The Alphabet Murders'' (1965) *''

'' (1965) *''

'' (1965) * ''The Trap'' (1966) *'' That Riviera Touch'' (1966) *'' Mister Ten Per Cent'' (1968) *'' The Magnificent Two'' (1967) *'' Submarine X-1'' (1968) *''

'' (1968) *'' Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher'' (1968) *'' Monte Carlo or Bust'' (1969) *''

'' (1969) *'' The Executioner'' (1970) *'' The Selfish Giant'' (1971) *'' Frenzy'' (1972) *'' Gawain and the Green Knight'' (1973) *'' The Happy Prince'' (1974) *'' Diamonds on Wheels'' (1974) *'' Deadly Strangers'' (1974) *'' One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing'' (1975) *'' Spanish Fly'' (1975) *'' Escape from the Dark'' (1976) *''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' (1976) *''Born to Run'' (1977) *'' Candleshoe'' (1977) *'' Force 10 from Navarone'' (1978) *'' The Spaceman and King Arthur'' (1979) *''

Clash of Loyalties ''Clash of Loyalties'' () is a 1983 Iraqi film focusing on the formation of Iraq out of Mesopotamia in the Aftermath of World War I, aftermath of the First World War. The film was financed by Saddam Hussein, filmed in Iraq (mainly at the Baghdad ...

'' (1983) *''

'' (1986)

Sources

*Ades, David 2001. "Goodwin, Ron". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was published as the first edition ...

and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers. *Kennedy, Michael (2006), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'', 985 pages,

References

External links

* * *
Detailed biography at The Robert Farnon Society

Ron Goodwin on YouTube

Ron Goodwin on Grooveshark Radio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Ron 1925 births 2003 deaths 20th-century English conductors (music) 20th-century English male musicians Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Deaths from asthma British easy listening musicians English film score composers English light music composers English male conductors (music) English male film score composers English music arrangers Ivor Novello Award winners Musicians from Plymouth, Devon People educated at Willesden County Grammar School People from Pinner People from West Berkshire District