Lalo Schifrin (1932-2025)
Lalo Schifrin, the composer behind the memorable theme for Mission: Impossible and film scores like Cool Hand Luke, Bullitt, and Dirty Harry, died on June 26, 2025. He was 93.
An Argentinian by birth, Schifrin was among the first to blend jazz and rock to create music for film and television. Over the decades, he has produced a wealth of music, numerous films, TV shows, and more than 40 TV movies and miniseries. However, his most notable contribution was perhaps the instantly recognisable theme tune to the television series Mission: Impossible. In 1968, the soundtrack became a bestseller, and the theme peaked at #41 on the Billboard Pop Charts, earning two Grammy Awards. Years later, the song appeared in the Mission: Impossible film series starring Tom Cruise. Schifrin composed music scores for movies like The Cincinnati Kid, Cool Hand Luke, Bullitt, THX 1138, Enter the Dragon, The Four Musketeers, Rollercoaster, The Amityville Horror, The Osterman Weekend, Rush Hour and its two sequels, Tango, and Bringing Down the House and has been nominated for six Oscars. He even scored films that starred Clint Eastwood, such as the Dirty Harry series.
In 2018, he received an honorary Oscar, becoming only the third composer to do so.
