James Horner Wikipedia. James Roy Horner August 1. June 2. 2, 2. 01. Americancomposer, conductor and orchestrator of film scores, writing over 1. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horners first major score was in 1. The Lady in Red, but he did not establish himself as an eminent film composer until his work on the 1. The Monkees Best Of Zip' title='The Monkees Best Of Zip' />Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan. His score for James Camerons Titanic is the best selling orchestral film soundtrack of all time. He also wrote the score for the highest grossing film of all time, Camerons Avatar. Horner collaborated on multiple projects with directors including Don Bluth, James Cameron, Joe Johnston, Walter Hill and Ron Howard producers including David Kirschner, Jon Landau, Brian Grazer and Steven Spielberg and songwriters including Will Jennings, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. He won two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, three Satellite Awards, and three Saturn Awards, and was nominated for three British Academy Film Awards. Get the latest celebrity news and hot celeb gossip with exclusive stories and pictures from Us Weekly. Horner, who was an avid pilot, died at the age of 6. Short Tucano turboprop aircraft in a single fatality crash. Early lifeeditHorner was born in 1. Los Angeles, California, to Jewish immigrants. His father, Harry Horner, was born in Hol, then a part of Austria Hungary. He immigrated to the United States in 1. His mother, Joan Ruth ne Frankel, was born into a prominent Canadian family. His brother Christopher is a writer and documentary filmmaker. James Horner started playing piano at the age of five. He spent his early years in London, where he attended the Royal College of Music. He returned to America, where he attended Verde Valley School in Sedona, Arizona, and later received his bachelors degree in music from the University of Southern California. After earning a masters degree, he started work on his doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA, where he studied with Paul Chihara, among others. After several scoring assignments with the American Film Institute in the 1. Target/14081481?wid=520&hei=520&fmt=pjpeg' alt='The Monkees Best Of Zip' title='The Monkees Best Of Zip' />Noreen M. Corcoran October 20, 1943 January 15, 2016 was an American actress, dancer, and singer best known for her costarring role in the television sitcom. UCLA, then turned to film scoring. Horner was also an avid pilot, and owned several small airplanes. Horners first credit as a feature film composer was for B movie director and producer Roger Cormans Battle Beyond the Stars. As his work gained notice in Hollywood, Horner was invited to take on larger projects. One of his first major scores was for 1. The Lady in Red. 1. Horners big break came in 1. Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan. It established him as an A list Hollywood composer. Director Nicholas Meyer quipped that Horner was hired because the studio could no longer afford the first Trek movies composer, Jerry Goldsmith but that by the time Meyer returned to the franchise with Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country, the studio couldnt afford Horner either. Horner continued writing high profile film scores in the 1. Hrs. 1. 98. 2, Krull 1. Star Trek III The Search for Spock 1. Commando 1. 98. 5, Cocoon 1. Aliens 1. 98. 6, batteries not included 1. Willow 1. 98. 8, Glory and Field of Dreams both 1. Cocoon was the first of his many collaborations with director Ron Howard. In 1. 98. 7, Horners original score for Aliens brought him his first Academy Award nomination. Somewhere Out There, which he co composed and co wrote with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for An American Tail, was also nominated that year for Best Original Song. Throughout the 1. Horner wrote orchestral scores for family films particularly those produced by Steven Spielbergs Amblin Entertainment, with credits for An American Tail 1. The Land Before Time 1. The Rocketeer and An American Tail Fievel Goes West 1. Once Upon a Forest and Were BackA Dinosaurs Story 1. The Pagemaster 1. Casper, Jumanji and Balto 1. Parabody 500 Manual more. Mighty Joe Young 1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2. Horner scored six films in 1. Braveheart and Apollo 1. Academy Award nominations. Horners biggest critical and financial success came in 1. James Camerons Titanic. At the 7. 0th Academy Awards, Horner received the Oscar for Best Original Dramatic Score, and shared the Oscar for Best Original Song with co writer Will Jennings for My Heart Will Go On. The films score and song also won three Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Ten years earlier, Horner had vowed never to work with Cameron again, referring to the highly stressful scoring sessions for Aliens as a nightmare. After Titanic, Horner continued to compose for major productions, including The Perfect Storm, A Beautiful Mind, Enemy at the Gates, The Mask of Zorro, The Legend of Zorro, House of Sand and Fog and Bicentennial Man. He also worked on smaller projects such as Iris, Radio and Bobby Jones Stroke of Genius. He received his eighth and ninth Academy Award nominations for A Beautiful Mind 2. House of Sand and Fog 2. Howard Shore. Horner composed the 2. CBS Evening News, which was introduced during the debut of anchor Katie Couric on September 5, 2. He wrote various treatments of the theme, explaining, One night the show might begin with the Iranians obtaining a nuclear device, and another it might be something about a flower show. The tone needs to match the news. Horner collaborated again with James Cameron on his 2. Avatar, which became the highest grossing film of all time, surpassing Camerons own Titanic. Horner worked exclusively on Avatar for over two years. He said, Avatar has been the most difficult film I have worked on, and the biggest job I have undertaken. I work from four in the morning to about ten at night, and thats been my way of life since March. Thats the world Im in now, and it makes you feel estranged from everything. Ill have to recover from that and get my head out of it. Avatar brought Horner his tenth Academy Award nomination, as well as nominations for the Golden Globe Award, British Academy Film Award and Grammy Award, all of which he lost to Michael Giacchino for Up. After Avatar, Horner wrote the score for the 2. The Karate Kid, replacing Atli rvarsson. In 2. 01. 1, he scored Cristiada also known as For Greater Glory, which was released a year later and Black Gold. In 2. 01. 2 he scored The Amazing Spider Man, starring Andrew Garfield. In an interview on his website, Horner revealed why he didnt return to compose the second movie that he didnt like how the movie resulted in comparison to the first movie, and even called the movie dreadful. Upon his departure, he was replaced by Hans Zimmer. In early 2. 01. 5, after a three year hiatus, Horner wrote the music for the adventure film Wolf Totem, his fourth collaboration with director Jean Jacques Annaud. At the time of his death, Horner had scored two films yet to be released 3. In July 2. 01. 5, a month after his death, it was discovered Horner had also written the score for the 2. The Magnificent Seven, planning it as a surprise. Horners scores are also heard in trailers for other films. The climax of Bishops Countdown, from his score for Aliens, ranks as the 5th most commonly used soundtrack cue in trailers. Horner also wrote the theme music for the Horsemen P 5. Aerobatic Team, and appears in The Horsemen Cometh, a documentary about the team and the P 5. Mustang fighter plane. The theme is heard at the teams airshow performances. Orchestral workeditIn 2. Horner wrote Pas de Deux, a double concerto for violin and cello. Commissioned to mark 1.