Ennio Morricone

Did not win a competitive Oscar until over 55 years (from his first film score in 1960, until his 2016 win for The Hateful Eight (2015)) in the industry.

A classmate of director Sergio Leone with whom he would form one of the great director/composer partnerships (right up there with Eisenstein & Prokofiev, Hitchcock & Herrmann, Fellini & Rota), Ennio Morricone studied at Rome's Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he specialized in trumpet. His first film scores were relatively undistinguished, but he was hired by Leone for A Fistful of Dollars (1964) on the strength of some of his song arrangements. His score for that film, with its sparse arrangements, unorthodox instrumentation (bells, electric guitars, harmonicas, the distinctive twang of the jew's harp) and memorable tunes, revolutionized the way music would be used in Westerns, and it is hard to think of a post-Morricone Western score that doesn't in some way reflect his influence. Although his name will always be synonymous with the spaghetti Western, Morricone has also contributed to a huge range of other film genres: comedies, dramas, thrillers, horror films, romances, art movies, exploitation movies - making him one of the film world's most versatile artists.

Heavy-metal band Metallica starts their shows with Morricone's instrumental "The Ecstasy Of Gold" (from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)) before appearing on stage.

Stanley Kubrick was very fond of Morricone's work, particularly on Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). The American director considered hiring him to write the score for A Clockwork Orange (1971). However, when Sergio Leone, working on Duck You Sucker (1971) at the time, was asked if the composer was available, Leone insisted that Morricone was needed, even though this wasn't true. Morricone regretted the missed opportunity to his dying day. Kubrick also briefly considered him for Barry Lyndon (1975), but nothing ever came of this.

Has worked with director Sergio Leone in numerous films, in fact, many considered it to be one of Leone's trademarks to have his films scored by Morricone. Of the eight films directed by Leone, six were scored by Morricone, and additionally, of the seven films produced by Leone (of which Leone was an uncredited producer on all but one, The Cat (1977)), Morricone composed the scores on six of those too. However, of the films which were written by Leone, but not directed or produced by Leone, Morricone did not compose for any of those productions. Unfortunately, Leone predeceased Morricone by more than thirty years, or their legendary working relationship likely would have resulted in more Leone films with scores composed by Morricone.

He composed the official theme for the 1978 World Cup, held in Argentina.

Despite his legendary reputation, and almost sixty year long film composing career, he only won one competitive Oscar, although he had been nominated for composing on five previous films between 1979 and 2001, before his 2016 win for The Hateful Eight (2015).

He was reportedly considered to score Heaven's Gate (1980).

It's been felt by some that he was deprived of a possible Academy Award when the U.S. distributor of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America (1984) failed to file the paperwork so the score could be considered for nomination. This score is still regarded as one of his best.

Co-wrote "It Couldn't Happen Here" with the British pop duo Pet Shop Boys for their 1987 album "Actually," and which was also the title song for a film of the same name, It Couldn't Happen Here (1987), which was otherwise scored by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe (as Pet Shop Boys) as the credited composer.

Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 49th Venice International Film Festival in 1992.

He wrote scores for What Dreams May Come (1998) and The Scarlet Letter (1995) that were rejected.

After more than 40 years of working with Clint Eastwood, Morricone's Italian speech was translated to English, on stage, by Eastwood at the 2007 Oscar ceremony, when Morricone won his first Academy Award, albeit honorary, for life achievement. The 2007 award turned out to be a precursor to Morricone's belated competitive win at the 2016 ceremony, for The Hateful Eight (2015).

At one point he was onboard to score Inglourious Basterds (2009), but backed out due to his belief that he would be unable to work efficiently in the amount of time given.

Director Quentin Tarantino accepted Morricone's Golden Globe win for The Hateful Eight (2015) on his behalf.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 7065 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 26, 2016.