French composer Maurice Jarre died 30 March 2009 in Los Angeles, California, after a battle with cancer. Born 13 September 1924 in Lyon, France, he won three Academy Awards for Best Original Score (Lawrence of Arabia in 1963, Doctor Zhivago in 1966, and A Passage to India in 1985), and was nominated for six more. Jarre was a composer of symphonic music for theatre, ballet, and television, as well as his film work (he was credited as composer on more than 160 films, and had other music department credits on nearly 100 more).
Genre films that feature his work include: Super Mario Brothers (1993), Ghost (1990), Jacob’s Ladder (1990), Solar Crisis (1990), Chances Are (1989), Shuto shoshitsu (Tokyo Blackout, 1987), Solarbabies (1986), The Bride (1985), Enemy Mine (1985), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Dreamscape (1984), Samson and Delilah (1984), Firefox (1982), Resurrection (1980), The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark (1980), The Island at the Top of the World (1974), Grandeur nature (Life Size, 1974), and Les Yeux sans visage (The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus, 1960).
Jarre also won a Grammy Award for Doctor Zhivago, and was nominated for four others; four Golden Globes, for Doctor Zhivago in 1966, A Passage to India in 1985, Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey in 1989, and A Walk in the Clouds in 1996, and was nominated for seven more; two BAFTA Awards, for Witness (1986) and Dead Poets Society (1990), and was nominated for one more; and was nominated for three Saturn Awards. A long list of his awards and nominations is available on this page.
Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, said of Jarre “By working with some of the greatest filmmakers in the world, he showed that music can be just as important as pictures to make a beautiful and successful film.”
He is survived by his two sons—electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel and screenwriter Kevin—and daughter Stéfanie (a set decorator).