Bill Conti

Bill Conti (born April 13, 1943 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a film musical director. Conti was an orchestra director by age fifteen. In 1974, he began as a film music director. His big break into celebrity came in 1976, however, when he was hired to choose the music for the movie that also made Sylvester Stallone famous: Rocky. Conti was credited on the cover of the movie's soundtrack album and received an Academy Award nomination for the well-known Rocky theme "Gonna Fly Now." Conti also worked for some other films and, eventually, for television series. In 1981, he wrote the music for the James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only, when John Barry was unwilling to return to the United Kingdom for tax reasons. In 1982, he provided the score for playwright Jason Miller's film version of his Pulitzer Prize winning play That Championship Season. In 1983, he composed the score for HBO's first film, The Terry Fox Story. In 1984 he received an Academy Award for composing the score to 1983's The Right Stuff. He also composed the score for The Karate Kid, which was directed by John G. Avildsen, who also directed Rocky. He also composed the themes to television's Dynasty, Falcon Crest and The Lifestyles of The Rich And Famous. Conti also composed the theme song to American Gladiators, worked with CBS on the movie jingle, and wrote PrimeTime Live for ABC News. In addition he composed the score to the studio altered American version of Luc Besson's The Big Blue. Conti has a well respected cult following for his music on all four "Karate Kid" movies, where original recordings on CD can cost $40-$120.00.