Monty Norman, the composer of the instantly recognizable James Bond theme music, has died aged 94. The BBC first reported the news, saying his family had confirmed his death.
Norman’s most famous work was created as part of the score for the first Bond film, Dr. No, which was released in 1962 and starred Sean Connery. Norman said he based the distinctive rolling phrase, which first appeared as part of a medley during the film’s opening, on an earlier piece called Good Sign, Bad Sign, which he created for a musical adaptation of A House for VS Naipul’s Mr Biswas. A jazz arrangement by John Barry for the film led to Barry often being misidentified as the composer; Norman went to court and won a defamation case against the Sunday Times in 2001 to protect his credit.
Norman, born Monty Noserowicz in 1928, grew up the son of Jewish immigrants in London’s East End and became the lead singer of many popular big bands in the 1950s and early 1960s. He turned to songwriting for musicals in the late 1950s, contributing lyrics to Make Me an Offer (a West End musical version of Irma la Douce) as well as music and lyrics to Wolf Mankowitz’s Expresso Bongo.
He also worked on the 1961 musical Belle about the infamous Crippen murders, which led to him being asked by Bond producer ‘Cubby’ Broccoli to provide the music for Dr No. Later screen work included the Bob Hope comedy Call Me Bwana and the 1976 TV series Dickens of London. Norman also returned to musicals, most notably Songbook in 1979, about a fictional Liverpool lyricist called Mooney Shapiro, who managed to break out on Broadway before returning to Britain in time for the swinging 60s.
Norman was the first husband of actor Diana Coupland, best known for the 1970s sitcom Bless This House, who died in 2006.
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