Ernest Gold

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Ernest Gold (born Ernst Gold (July 13, 1921 - March 17, 1999) was an American award-winning composer. Born in Vienna, Austria; Gold wrote nearly 100 film and television scores between 1945 and 1992. Among his most notable contributions include the title songs for It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World and On the Beach.

Gold's contributions were recognized with four Academy Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations. He won a Golden Globe in 1960 for Best Motion Picture Score for 1959's On the Beach, and won an Academy Award a year later for Best Music: Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, for Exodus. His work on On the Beach also won Gold a Grammy Award. The Hollywood Walk of Fame has also recognized Gold with a star on famed Hollywood Boulevard. Gold's classical works also included a piano concerto, a string quartet, and a piano sonata.

He was married twice; first to Marni Nixon from 1950–1969 which produced singer Andrew Gold and from 1975–1999 to Jan Keller Gold. Gold died on March 17, 1999 in Santa Monica, California at the age of 77 from complications from a stroke.