LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Academy Award-winning composer
   Jerry Goldsmith, who created the memorable music for scores
   of classic movies and television shows ranging from the "Star
   Trek" and "Planet of the Apes" series to "The Man from
   U.N.C.L.E." and "Dr.  Kildare," has died.  He was 75.

   Goldsmith died in his sleep Wednesday night at his Beverly
   Hills home after a long battle with cancer, said Lois Carruth,
   his personal assistant.

   A classically trained composer and conductor who began musical
   studies at age 6, Goldsmith's award-dappled Hollywood career
   -- he was nominated for 17 Academy Awards, won one, and also
   took home five Emmys -- spanned nearly half a century.

   He crafted an astonishing number of TV and movie scores that
   have become classics in their own right.  From the clarions
   of "Patton" to the syrupy theme for TV's "The Waltons,"
   Goldsmith sometimes seemed virtually synonymous with soundtracks.

   He took on action hits such as "Total Recall," which he
   considered one of his best scores, as well as the "Star Trek"
   movies and more lightweight fare, like his most recent movie
   theme, for last year's "Looney Tunes: Back in Action." His
   hundreds of works included scores for "The Blue Max," "L.A.
   Confidential," "Basic Instinct" and "Chinatown."

   Goldsmith's output also spilled into television, with the
   themes for shows including "Dr.  Kildare," "Barnaby Jones"
   and "Star Trek: The Next Generation." He also wrote a fanfare
   that is used in Academy Awards telecasts.

   He won his Oscar for best original score in 1976 for "The Omen." He also
   earned five Emmy Awards and was nominated for nine Golden Globe awards,
   though he never won one.  (List of Goldsmith's credits)

   "He could write anything.  He did Westerns, comedies," Carruth
   said.  "He preferred writing for more character-driven, quiet
   films but somehow they kept coming back to him for the action
   films."

   Born February 10, 1929 in Los Angeles, Goldsmith studied with
   famed pianist Jacob Gimpel and pianist, composer and film
   musician Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.  He fell in love with
   movie composing when he saw the 1945 Ingrid Bergman movie
   "Spellbound," Carruth said, and while attending the University
   of California took classes with Miklos Rozsa, who wrote the
   Oscar-winning score for that film.

   In 1950, he got a job as a clerk typist at CBS and eventually
   got assignments for live radio shows, writing as much as one
   score a week.  He later turned to television.

   In the late 1950s he began composing for movies.  His career
   took off in the 1960s with such major films as "Lonely Are
   the Brave" and "The Blue Max." He earned his first Academy
   Award nomination for his work on 1962's "Freud."

   Goldsmith was known for his versatility and his experimentation.
   He added electronics to the woodwinds and brasses of his
   scores.  For 1968's "Planet of the Apes," he got a blaring
   effect by having his musicians blow horns without mouthpieces.
   With a puckish sense of humor, he reportedly wore an ape mask
   while conducting the score.

   "He experimented a lot and that's what made him so popular
   with his fans," Carruth said.  "When he wrote, he got inside
   of the characters and he wrote what he felt they were thinking
   and feeling."

   Some of his motion picture scores were adapted for ballets.
   Goldsmith also wrote composed orchestral pieces and taught
   occasional music classes at local universities.

   He is survived by his wife, Carol; children Aaron, Joel,
   Carrie, Ellen Edson and Jennifer Grossman, six grandchildren
   and a great-grandchild.

Larry Sherwood <[log in to unmask]>