Ennio Morricone, easily one of the two greatest living film composers, finally won his first competitive Oscar at the 88th Academy Awards. Morricone scored Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, one of over 500 films he has composed the music for.
The 87-year-old won the Oscar for Best Original Score nine years after he received an honorary Oscar. Before that, he earned five nominations, but none of those were for some of his most famous works. Morricone is best known for his epic collaboration with Sergio Leone on the Dollars Trilogy, Once Upon A Time In The West and Once Upon A Time In America.
When Morricone got up to speak, he was met with a standing ovation and began in Italian. He graciously mentioned John Williams, who is the other greatest living film composer and was also up for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
“There isn't a great soundtrack without a great movie that inspires it,” Morricone said. “This is why I thank Quentin Tarantino for choosing me, as well as the producer Harvey Weinstein and the whole crew.”
As The Hollywood Reporter pointed out, Morricone is likely the oldest winner of a competitive Oscar. The oldest acting winner is Christopher Plummer, who was 82 when he won for Beginners. Charlie Chaplin was 83 when he received a belated Oscar for his music for Limelight in 1973.