John Barry Prendergast, OBE (3 November 1933 – 30 January 2011) was an English composer and conductor of movie music.
He composed the soundtracks for 11 of the James Bond movies between 1963 and 1987, and also arranged and performed the "James Bond Theme" to the first movie in the series, 1962's Dr. No. He wrote the scores to the award winning films Midnight Cowboy, Dances with Wolves and Out of Africa, in a career spanning over 50 years. In 1999 he was appointed OBE for services to music.
Barry was born on 3 November 1933 in York, Yorkshire, England. He studied at St Peter's School, York.
Barry was married four times. His first three marriages, to Barbara Pickard (1959–63), Jane Birkin (1965–68), and Jane Sidey (1969–78) all ended in divorce. He was married to Laurie from 1978 until his death. The couple had a son, Jonpatrick. Barry had three daughters, Suzanne (Susie) with his first wife, Barbara, Kate with his second wife, Jane, and Sian from a relationship with Ulla Larson between the first two marriages.
Barry died of a heart attack on 30 January 2011 at his Oyster Bay home, aged 77. He is survived by Laurie, his wife of 33 years, and by his four children and five grandchildren.
Influences
Barry stated composers like Alfred Newman, Elmer Bernstein, Henry Mancini, Franz Waxman, Max Steiner, Stan Kenton, Duane Eddy, Chet Baker, Duke Ellington, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Dimitri Tiomkin, Gil Evans, Nino Rota, Count Basie and Bernard Herrmann as influences.