Ron Goodwin

Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 1925 – 8 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 <a href="/facts/Where_Eagles_Dare/X1sU0Wbh">Where Eagles Dare</a>, <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Britain_(film)/09WU3yXX">Battle of Britain</a>, <a href="/facts/633_Squadron/NkzP76pa">633 Squadron</a>, <a href="/facts/Margaret_Rutherford/PcUK14ns">Margaret Rutherford's</a> <a href="/facts/Miss_Marple/IBlMru4S">Miss Marple</a> <a href="/facts/Murder%2c_She_Said/R6DhBUKN">films</a>, and <a href="/facts/Frenzy/12gehjBe">Frenzy</a>.
Born in <a href="/facts/Plymouth/FhYcrnqf">Plymouth</a>, <a href="/facts/Devon/go3z9lDW">Devon</a>, England, Goodwin learned to play the piano and trumpet from the age of five which allowed him to join the school band. When he was nine, the family moved to <a href="/facts/London_Borough_of_Harrow/EN4h2xLP">Harrow</a>, London, where he attended <a href="/facts/Capital_City_Academy/LFBWoay1">Willesden County School</a> and <a href="/facts/Pinner_County_Grammar_School/9hQ4C45P">Pinner County Grammar School</a>, in <a href="/facts/Middlesex/Mzn77Wy7">Middlesex</a>. From there he went on to study the trumpet in London at the <a href="/facts/Guildhall_School_of_Music/1QfDY5xc">Guildhall School of Music</a>.
Whilst working as a copyist, he formed his own orchestra in his spare time and began arranging and conducting recordings for over fifty performers, which resulted in more than 100 chart successes. He wrote his first feature film score for <a href="/facts/Whirlpool_(1959_film)/ITrQfv0F">Whirlpool</a>, with screenplay by Lawrence P. Bachmann. After Bachmann became executive producer at <a href="/facts/MGM-British_Studios/IFfEExu0">MGM-British Studios</a> in 1959, Goodwin composed and conducted the music for most of its productions, as well as working for other film studios.
In the 1980s Goodwin began concentrating on live orchestral performances and appeared as guest conductor with many <a href="/facts/Symphony_orchestra/C5Ha0d0G">symphony orchestras</a> at home and abroad including the <a href="/facts/Royal_Philharmonic_Orchestra/mpJvcyoE">Royal Philharmonic Orchestra</a>, the <a href="/facts/City_of_Birmingham_Symphony_Orchestra/kKB8Hgze">City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra</a>, the <a href="/facts/Detroit_Symphony_Orchestra/K830t43r">Detroit Symphony Orchestra</a> and the <a href="/facts/New_Zealand_Symphony_Orchestra/jL670oh5">New Zealand Symphony Orchestra</a>.

Ron Goodwin open-in-new

Ron Goodwin