Riz Ortolani

Riz Ortolani

Riz Ortolani in 1955
Born Riziero Ortolani
25 March 1926
Pesaro, Italy
Died 23 January 2014 (aged 87)
Rome, Italy
Occupation Composer

Riziero "Riz" Ortolani (25 March 1926 – 23 January 2014) was an Italian film composer.[1]

Early life

Ortolani was born on 25 March 1926 in Pesaro, Italy.

Career

In the early 1950s Ortolani was founder and member of a well-known Italian jazz band. He wrote his first score for Paolo Cavara and Gualtiero Jacopetti's pseudo-documentary Mondo Cane, whose main title-song More earned him a Grammy and was also nominated for an Oscar as Best Song. The success of the soundtrack of Mondo Cane led Ortolani to score films in England and the United States such as The 7th Dawn (1964), The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), The Glory Guys (1965), The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966), Woman Times Seven (1967), The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968) and Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968). Other renowned tracks were his main-title for the movie O Cangaceiro (1970) and the score for the 1972 film The Valachi Papers, directed by Terence Young and starring Charles Bronson.

Ortolani scored all or parts of over 200 films, including German westerns like Apache's Last Battle (Old Shatterhand, 1964) and a long series of Italian giallos, spaghetti westerns, Eurospy films, Exploitation films and mondo films. Notable films scored by Ortolani include Il Sorpasso (1962), Castle of Blood (1964), Africa Addio (1966), Day of Anger (1967), Anzio (1968), The McKenzie Break (1970), The Statue (1971), Addio Zio Tom (1971), The Hunting Party (1971), A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die (1972), Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972), I Am Afraid (1977), Red Rings of Fear (1978), The Fifth Musketeer (1979), From Hell to Victory (1979), Cannibal Holocaust (1980), House on the Edge of the Park (1980), and the first series of La Piovra (1984).

Later career

More recently, his music was used on soundtracks for Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969 (1999), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Drive (2011) and Django Unchained (2012).

In 2013 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Soundtrack Academy.

Death

Ortolani died on 23 January 2014 in Rome, aged 87.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Riz Ortolani - About This Person - Movies & TV". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "E' morto Riz Ortolani, compose le musiche del Sorpasso". Rai News. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

External links