Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included Where Eagles Dare, Battle of Britain, 633 Squadron, Margaret Rutherford's Murder, She Said films, and Frenzy.
Born in Plymouth, Devon, England,
Goodwin learned to play the piano by the age of five and returned to London four years later, where he attended Willesden County Grammar School. Whilst there, he learnt to play the trumpet and performed regularly in the school band. It was here that he formed his own band – Ron Goodwin and the Woodchoppers. and began to broadcast and make records with his Ron Goodwin Concert Orchestra.
In 1953, Goodwin began arranging and conducting more than 300 recordings for over fifty performers, which resulted in more than 100 chart successes. He simultaneously made his own series of recordings and broadcasts as Ron Goodwin and his Concert Orchestra, and, in addition, began to compose scores for documentary films at Merton Park Studios. In 1958, Goodwin wrote his first feature film score for Whirlpool, with screenplay by Lawrence P. Bachmann. A 30-second variation of his 1969 composition for the film Monte Carlo or Bust is used as the intro for the BBC Radio Four panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
Goodwin wrote several Disney film scores during the 1970s, including the one used for One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975).
Later career
By 1987, Goodwin had begun concentrating on live orchestrations which included his "Drake 400 Suite" in 1980 and "Armada Suite" in 1988. His "New Zealand Suite" in 1983 marked a long association with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Goodwin appeared as guest conductor with many symphony orchestras at home and abroad including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Australian Pops Orchestra, Danish Radio Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Goodwin was guest conductor at the Royal Academy of Music's Festival of British and American Film Music in June 1996.
Awards
In 1972, Goodwin recorded Somebody Named Ron Goodwin Plays Somebody Named Burt Bacharach and recorded internationally, winning gold and platinum discs awarded by EMI. He won a platinum disc from EMI New Zealand to mark two million sales of the album "Going Places". During his career he won three Ivor Novello Awards, including a lifetime achievement award,
Death
In December 2002, Goodwin completed his 32nd consecutive year of Christmas concerts in packed venues across the South of England. However, he had suffered from asthma for many years and the condition had worsened with age. On 7 January 2003, having completed conducting a series of Christmas concerts with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, he returned home and died in his sleep at Blacknest Cottage, Brimpton Common, Hampshire, on 8 January 2003, aged 77.