(London) The British composer Monty Norman, author of the original plot of the music of James Bond, died Monday at the age of 94, announced his official site.
Posted at 12:51 p.m.
We can read on the site, which publishes a large black and white photo of the composer, displaying a frank smile, that he died on July 11, 2022 “after a brief illness”.
Created for the first film of the saga, James Bond versus Dr No (1962), the version of Monty Norman’s music did not convince the producers, who asked John Barry (who died in January 2011), a monument to film music (Midnight Cowboy, Out of Africaetc.), to retouch it.
The latter later claimed authorship of the work, but in March 2001, Monty Norman won a libel suit against the Sunday Times, who attributed it to John Barry. Monty Norman had ordered the newspaper to pay 30,000 pounds ($46,000 at the time) in damages, for this article which appeared in October 1997.
Born in east London to a Jewish family that left the British capital in the early days of the Blitz at the start of World War II, he got his first guitar at the age of 16, given to him by his mother, and discovers the Beatles and Eric Clapton.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, he sang for jazz groups, including those of Cyril Stapleton, Ted Heath and Nat Temple, and participated in variety shows.
Alongside the entertainer Benny Hill, he goes on the road, both taking turns at the top of the bill according to the preferences of the city where they are: comedy or music.
He then began to compose, and wrote songs for Cliff Richard and Tommy Steel, one of the pioneers of rock in the United Kingdom, as well as for musicals, such as Make Me an Offer and Espresso Bongo.