In a statement to The Associated Press, Lalo Schifrin‘s son Ryan Schifrin announced that his father passed away “peacefully” at his home in Los Angeles on Thursday (6.26) at the age of 93 due to complications of pneumonia.
Born Boris Claudio Schifrin in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1932, the legendary composer studied piano as a child, and as a young man, formed a jazz orchestra.
After moving to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, the musician landed work scoring films and television shows, including the iconic theme music of the TV series, Mission: Impossible as well as memorable soundtracks for the detective show Mannix and the scores for 1967’s Cool Hand Luke, 1974’s The Four Musketeers, 1979’s The Amityville Horror, and the Rush Hour trilogy. In addition, he collaborated with Clint Eastwood a number of times, including the Dirty Harry films.
In the ’90s, Schifrin wrote arrangements for The Three Tenors concerts, including the first time Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and José Carreras performed together before the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final in Italy.
Throughout his career, Schifrin won four Grammy Awards, one Latin Grammy Award, six Academy Award nominations, and was bestowed with an Honorary Academy Award in 2018 in recognition of his dedication to the industry.
Reflecting on his work in an interview for The Associated Press at the time, Lalo described his delight at the enduring popularity of the Mission: Impossible theme (which is also used for the Tom Cruise movie franchise,) stating “To me, it was a surprise that the theme became so popular with people.” “I went to write something simple. And over time it became so popular and I’m so happy about it.”
Lalo Schifrin is survived by his wife Donna, sons Ryan and William, and daughter Frances.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Alexandra Spürk (Alexi)