Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, best known for his score to ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ and ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ has died at age 76.
Sir Richard received three Oscar nominations during his career for ‘Far from the Maddening Crowd’ (1967), ‘Nicholas and Alexandra’ (197) and ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ (1974).
He was first honoured with the CBE in 1977 and then received his knighthood in 1998. One of his last jobs was composing ‘Reflections on a Scottish Folk Song’. The piece was commissioned by Prince Charles as a tribute to his grandmother.
Richard’s other musical love was Jazz. He regularly performed as a pianist with Cleo Laine. He also composed 32-bar jazz standards.
He also worked with Paul McCartney and composed ‘A Good Night’ for the Linda McCartney tribute album ‘A Garland for Linda’.
Since 1979, Sir Richard was based in New York City. His biography was published in 2010.
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett died on Christmas Eve in his New York home.
Hollywood titans Charles Durning and Jack Klugman also died on Christmas Eve.
