Editing Bill Conti (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Conti, an [[Italian American]], was born in [[Providence, Rhode Island]],<ref name="Larkin" /> the son of Lucetta and William Conti.<ref name="MacDonald324">{{cite book |last=MacDonald |first=Laurence E. |date=2013 |title=The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0NYYHWtz6sC&pg=PA324 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=[[The Scarecrow Press]] |page=324 |isbn=978-0-8108-9058-9}}</ref> He graduated from [[North Miami High School]] in 1959.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nmshaa.net/alumni/famous-pioneers |title=North Miami High School Alumni Events » Famous Pioneers |access-date=December 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213012545/http://www.nmshaa.net/alumni/famous-pioneers |archive-date=December 13, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He is a past winner of the Silver Knight Award presented by the [[Miami Herald]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Dahlberg |first=Nancy |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article181594626.html |title=Silver Knight Scholarship Endowment Fund launches with more than $3 million in grants |newspaper=[[Miami Herald]] |date=October 30, 2017 |access-date=September 8, 2019}}</ref> He is a graduate of [[Louisiana State University School of Music]],<ref name="Larkin" /> where he met his wife Shelby Cox, and earned a master's degree with honors from the [[Juilliard School]] of Music.<ref name="Larkin" />

===''Rocky'' series===
As early as 1971, Bill was orchestrating pop recordings by Italian artists, such as the album ''Sì... incoerenza'' ("Yes to Incoherence") by Italian singer [[Patty Pravo]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Cusimano |first=Clarissa |date=July 23, 2020 |title=Patty Pravo, vita, figli e amori: tutto sulla cantante nota come La Ragazza del Piper |url=https://www.lettoquotidiano.it/patty-pravo-vita-figli-e-amori-tutto-sulla-cantante-nota-come-la-ragazza-del-piper/63818/ |work=LettoQuotidiano.it |language=Italian |access-date=July 23, 2020}}</ref> He was also a [[ghostwriter]] of the scores for [[Spaghetti Western]]s.<ref name="MacDonald324" /> Conti's big break into celebrity came in 1976, when [[United Artists]] hired him to compose the music for a small film called ''[[Rocky]]''.<ref name="Larkin" /> The film became a phenomenon and won three Oscars at the [[49th Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]. The same ceremony was also the first time Conti served as musical director for the telecast, a role he reprised 19 times, more than any other person. His training montage tune, "[[Gonna Fly Now]]", topped the Billboard singles chart in 1977, and earned him an Academy Award nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song]].<ref name="Larkin" />

Conti also composed music for the sequels ''[[Rocky II]]'' (1979), ''[[Rocky III]]'' (1982), ''[[Rocky V]]'' (1990)<ref name="Larkin" /> and ''[[Rocky Balboa (film)|Rocky Balboa]]'' (2006).

===Other film and television credits===
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 (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'',<ref name="Larkin" /> when [[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]] was unwilling to return to the United Kingdom for tax reasons,<ref>{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Paul |date=2015 |title=Bond Vs. Bond: The Many Faces of 007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_76CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA138 |location=New York |publisher=[[Race Point Publishing]] |page=138 |isbn=978-1-63106-000-7}}</ref> and provided the score for playwright [[Jason Miller (playwright)|Jason Miller]]'s film version of his [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning play ''[[That Championship Season (1982 film)|That Championship Season]]'' the following year.

In 1983, Conti composed the score for HBO's first film, ''The Terry Fox Story''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Newman |first=Peter C. |author-link=Peter C. Newman |date=May 30, 1983 |title=The Terry Fox project in black |url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1983/5/30/the-terry-fox-project-in-black |work=[[Maclean's]] |access-date=December 11, 2014 |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624212337/https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1983/5/30/the-terry-fox-project-in-black |url-status=dead }}</ref> He then did ''[[Bad Boys (1983 film)|Bad Boys]]'', ''[[Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story]]'', ''[[Mass Appeal (film)|Mass Appeal]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |date=December 17, 1984 |title=JACK LEMMON IN 'MASS APPEAL' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/17/movies/jack-lemmon-in-mass-appeal.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=December 11, 2014}}</ref> In 1984, he won an Academy Award for composing the score to 1983's ''[[The Right Stuff (film)|The Right Stuff]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last=MacDonald |first=Laurence E. |date=2013 |title=The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0NYYHWtz6sC&pg=PA323 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |page=323 |isbn=978-0-8108-9058-9}}</ref> after which he wrote the music for the TV series ''[[North and South (miniseries)|North and South]]'' in 1985.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brode |first1=Douglas |last2=Brode |first2=Shea T. |last3=Miller |first3=Cynthia J. |date=2017 |title=The American Civil War on Film and TV: Blue and Gray in Black and White and Color |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZlY_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA204 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=[[Lexington Books]] |page=204 |isbn=978-1-4985-6688-9}}</ref> He also scored the ''[[Masters of the Universe (1987 film)|Masters of the Universe]]'' live action film. Another score was the 1987 film ''[[Happy New Year (1987 film)|Happy New Year]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=Larry |last2=Garrett |first2=Tom |date=2013 |title=The Films of John G. Avildsen: Rocky, The Karate Kid and Other Underdogs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8aNTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |page=151 |isbn=978-0-7864-6692-4}}</ref>

In 1991, Conti composed for ''[[Necessary Roughness (film)|Necessary Roughness]]'', a college football film.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Malcolm L. |date=September 28, 1991 |title=UNNECESSARY 'ROUGHNESS' IS PREDICTABLE, COLLEGE-GRIDIRON PICTURE |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1991-09-28-0000211504-story.html |work=[[Hartford Courant]] |access-date=December 11, 2014}}</ref> In 1993, he wrote the music for ''[[The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)|The Adventures of Huck Finn]]'' starring [[Elijah Wood]] and directed by [[Stephen Sommers]]. In 1999, he composed the score for ''[[The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 film)|The Thomas Crown Affair]]'' remake, starring [[Pierce Brosnan]] and [[Rene Russo]]. That year, he scored ''[[Inferno (1999 film)|Inferno]]'', starring [[Jean-Claude Van Damme]].{{sfn|Powell|Garrett|2013|p=217}}

Conti composed the themes to television's ''[[Dynasty (1981 TV series)|Dynasty]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Gripsrud |first=Jostein |author-link=Jostein Gripsrud |date=2003 |title=The Dynasty Years: Hollywood Television and Critical Media Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8p87X0pHg4IC&pg=PA46 |location=London, United Kingdom |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=46 |isbn=0-415-08598-5}}</ref> ''[[The Colbys]]'', ''[[Falcon Crest]]'' and ''[[Cagney & Lacey]].''<ref>{{cite news |last=Torres |first=Agnes |date=July 6, 1986 |title=COMPOSER BILL CONTI IS A MASTER OF MOVIE MUSIC |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1986-07-06-0230370079-story.html |work=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |access-date=December 11, 2014}}</ref> He wrote the theme song to the original version of ''[[American Gladiators (1989 TV series)|American Gladiators]]'', worked with [[CBS]] on its 1980s film jingle, composed one of the early themes of ''[[Inside Edition]]'',<ref>{{cite news |last=Horovitz |first=Bruce |date=May 21, 1991 |title=Killer Music Signs Big Names to Do Product Jingles |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-05-21-fi-2279-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=December 11, 2014}}</ref> and wrote the ''[[Primetime Live]]'' theme for [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Carter |first=Bill |date=August 8, 1989 |title=A Ripple of Interest for 'PrimeTime Live' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/08/arts/a-ripple-of-interest-for-primetime-live.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 11, 2014}}</ref> He composed the score to the studio-altered American version of [[Luc Besson]]'s ''[[The Big Blue]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lanzoni |first=Rémi Fournier |date=2015 |title=French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xpBZCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA346 |location=New York and London |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |page=346 |isbn=978-1-5013-0307-4}}</ref>

Two of Conti's previously composed works were reused for the show ''[[Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous]]''. These were the love theme "Come with Me Now", from the soundtrack for ''[[Five Days from Home]]'' (used for the show's main theme), and "Runaway", from ''[[For Your Eyes Only (soundtrack)|For Your Eyes Only]]'' (used for in-show content).