Oscar-winning James Bond composer Barry dies at 77

FIVE-TIME Oscar-winning composer John Barry, who wrote music for a dozen James Bond films, including You Only Live Twice and Goldfinger — but couldn’t persuade a jury that he composed the suave spy’s theme music — has died. He was 77.

Barry died in New York, where he had lived for some time, on Sunday, his family said. The family did not release the cause of death.

Though his work on the Bond films is among his most famous, the English- born composer wrote a long list of scores, including for Midnight Cowboy, Dances with Wolves and Body Heat. He was proud of writing both for big action blockbusters and smaller films.

He won two Oscars for Born Free in 1966, for best score and best song. He also earned statuettes for the scores to The Lion in Winter (1968), Out of Africa (1985) and Dances with Wolves (1990).

His association with Agent 007 began with Dr No in 1962, although his contribution to that film was not credited and is in dispute.

Monty Norman, who was credited as the composer for Dr No, sued The Sunday Times in 2001 for reporting that Barry had composed the theme, working from scraps of Norman’s work. Norman won the case, collecting £30,000.

Barry testified that he was paid £250 to work on the theme music, developing the guitar line from part of Norman’s song Bad Sign, Good Sign, but agreed that Norman would get the credit. He was asked whether Norman wrote the theme and responded “absolutely not”.

In later years, Barry limited his comment on the case to saying, “If I didn’t write it, why did they ask me to do the other ones?”

He subsequently wrote music for Goldfinger, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun, Moonraker, Octopussy, A View to a Kill and The Living Daylights.

Born John Barry Prendergast, he recalled growing up “exposed to the fantasy life of Hollywood” at the eight theatres his father owned in England.

“Rather than talkie-talkie movies, I liked films with excitement and adventure, because they were the ones that had the music,” Barry said in an interview with The Guardian newspaper in 1999.

“It was nice to have the very commercial Bondian thing... and then at the same time have these smaller movies which were artistically more interesting to do,” he said.