Richard Rodney Bennett (Sir Richard, since being knighted in 1998), BAFTA, Grammy, and Oscar-nominated composer, died on Christmas Eve in New York City.
Born in 1936 in Kent, England, Bennett attended the Royal Academy of Music—an institution at which he would eventually teach during the early 1960s. Well-known for his impressive talent as a musician, Bennett produced an impressive catalog of music for the concert hall and jazz club during his extensive and wide-ranging career.
He began scoring films in the late 1950s and went on to receive Oscar nominations for Far from the Madding Crowd, Nicholas and Alexandra, and Murder on the Orient Express (which won a BAFTA).
Richard Rodney Bennett was 76.