LONDON: British film composer John Barry, who wrote the music for a string of Bond films and won five Oscars for movies including “Out of Africa”, has died at the age of 77, his family said on Monday.

He passed away on Sunday in New York, reportedly from a heart attack.

Barry was best known for his work on the James Bond films — he scored 11 films including “Goldfinger” and “You Only Live Twice” — and his atmospheric scores are credited with giving 007 much of his smooth persona.

“I think James Bond would have been far less cool without John Barry holding his hand,” said David Arnold, his successor as the 007 score composer, who described Barry’s death as a “profound loss”.

Although Barry did not compose the distinctive Bond theme tune — that was the work of Monty Norman — he provided the arrangement that made it famous.

However, the adventures of 007 represented only a handful of the more than 100 films Barry worked on during a career spanning three decades, which earned him an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1999.

He won Oscars for “Out of Africa”, “Dances With Wolves” and “The Lion in Winter”, and two for “Born Free”, for best song and best music score. He also earned aGrammy Award for “Midnight Cowboy” (1969).

“It is with great sadness that the family of composer John Barry announce his passing on Sunday in New York,” a family statement said.

“Mr Barry is survived by his wife of 33 years, Laurie, and his four children and five grandchildren. Funeral arrangements will be strictly private and a memorial service will be held later this year in the UK.” Barry grew up in the northern English city of York, but left Britain in the mid-1970s and set up home in Oyster Bay, New York, although friends remarked that he never lost his Yorkshire accent.

Born John Barry Prendergast in 1933, Barry was surrounded by movies and music through his cinema-owning father and classical pianist mother.

He lived for a time in Chelsea, at the heart of the swinging Sixties scene in London, reportedly renting out his spare room for a few months to the then unknown Michael Caine.

It was there that he met sex siren Jane Birkin, the second of his four wives.

His big break came when he worked on the 1962 Bond film “Dr. No”, although he was not credited for his contribution.—AFP