BILL CONTI Biography - Theater, Opera and Movie personalities

 
 

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BILL CONTI

Name: Bill Conti                                                                   
Born: 13 April 1942 Providence, Rhode Island                                       
                                                                                   
Bill Conti (born April 13, 1942 in Providence, Rhode Island) is an Italian         
American film music composer who is frequently the conductor at the Academy       
Awards ceremony.                                                                   
                                                                                   
His big break into celebrity came in 1976, when he was hired to compose the       
music for a small United Artists film called Rocky. The film became a phenomenon, 
and Conti's training montage tune, "Gonna Fly Now" topped the Billboard singles   
chart in 1977. He also composed music for the sequels Rocky II (1979), Rocky III   
(1982), Rocky V (1990) and Rocky Balboa (2006).                                   
                                                                                   
Conti also worked for some other films and, eventually, for television series.     
In 1981, he wrote the music for the James Bond 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, he composed the score for HBO's first film, The Terry Fox Story. Bill     
composed music for the film Bad Boys. Then in 1984, he received an Academy Award   
for composing the score to 1983's The Right Stuff followed by composing music     
for the TV series North and South in 1985. He also composed the score for The     
Karate Kid. In 1999 he composed the score for The Thomas Crown Affair remake,     
starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.                                           
                                                                                   
He also composed the themes to television's Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Cagney &       
Lacey, and The Lifestyles of The Rich And Famous. Conti also composed the theme   
song to American Gladiators, worked with CBS on the movie jingle, and wrote       
PrimeTime Live for ABC News. In addition he composed the score to the studio       
altered American version of Luc Besson's The Big Blue.