Riz Ortolani

Riz Ortolani

Riz Ortolani in 1955
Born Riziero Ortolani
(1926-03-25)25 March 1926
Pesaro, Italy
Died 23 January 2014(2014-01-23) (aged 87)
Rome, Italy
Occupation Composer

Riziero "Riz" Ortolani (Italian pronunciation: [ritˌtsjɛːro rits ortoˈlaːni]; 25 March 1926 – 23 January 2014) was an Italian film composer.[1]

Early life

Ortolani was born on 25 March 1926 in Pesaro, Italy. He was married to Katyna Ranieri.

Career

In the early 1950s Ortolani was founder and member of a well-known Italian jazz band. He wrote his first score for Paolo Cavara and Gualtiero Jacopetti's 1962 pseudo-documentary Mondo Cane, whose main title-song More earned him a Grammy and was also nominated for an Oscar as Best Song. The success of the soundtrack of Mondo Cane led Ortolani to score films in England and the United States such as The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966), The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968) and Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968). He also scored the 1972 film The Valachi Papers, directed by Terence Young and starring Charles Bronson.

Ortolani scored all or parts of over 200 films, including German westerns like Old Shatterhand (1964) and a long series of Italian giallos, spaghetti westerns, Eurospy films, Exploitation films and mondo films. These include Il Sorpasso (1962), Castle of Blood (1964), Africa Addio (1966), Day of Anger (1967), Anzio (1968), The McKenzie Break (1970), The Hunting Party (1971), A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die (1972), Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972), The Fifth Musketeer (1979), From Hell to Victory (1979), the controversial Ruggero Deodato films Cannibal Holocaust (1980) and The House on the Edge of the Park (1980), and the first series of La Piovra (1984). In later years he scored many films for Italian director Pupi Avati.

His music was used on soundtracks for Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 (1999), Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), Drive (2011) and Django Unchained (2012).

In 2013 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Soundtrack Academy.

Death

Ortolani died on 23 January 2014 in Rome, aged 87.[2]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Riz Ortolani - About This Person - Movies & TV". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "E' morto Riz Ortolani, compose le musiche del Sorpasso". Rai News. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
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