John Barry, the five-time Oscar winner who wrote the scores for 'Zulu', 'The Ipcress File', 'Midnight Cowboy', 'Out of Africa' and many James Bond films, has died. He was 77.
The Guardian reports that he died of a heart attack and had been in poor health for some time.
The Press Association reports that a statement released by his family said: "It is with great sadness that the family of composer John Barry announce his passing on the 30th of January 2011 in New York.
"Mr Barry is survived by his wife of 33 years, Laurie, and his four children and five grandchildren.
"Funeral arrangements will be strictly private and a memorial service will be held later this year in the UK."
The son of a cinema owner, Barry began his career with The John Barry Seven; his first work as a composer was the TV series 'Drumbeat' in 1959.
He arranged Monty Norman's classic James Bond theme and went on to compose the scores for 11 Bond films.
Among his other credits as a composer were 'Chaplain', 'Dances with Wolves' and 'Somewhere in Time'.
Paying tribute, lyricist Don Black, who co-wrote songs including 'Born Free' and 'Diamonds Are Forever' with Barry, said: "I think I knew him as well as anyone in the world. We were best friends for a long time, since the early Sixties. The thing about John that I will always remember was he never changed. He was very much the Yorkshireman whether he was in Beverly Hills or Manhattan.
"He lived in Oyster Bay, New York, for 30 or 40 years but you would never know it. There was no trace of America about him, he brought York to New York.
"He had a wonderful talent and gave me my start with 'Thunderball' and I owe him a great deal.
"When he played you a melody it was like an unveiling. You didn't question it because you knew he had been up all night working on it and getting it right."
