AFP: Prolific French composer Michel Legrand, who won three Oscars and five Grammys during a career spanning more than half a century, died Saturday (Jan 26) aged 86, his spokesman said.
Legrand lived in a musical whirlwind, with the same appetite for popular music to jazz, from conducting to film.
“Since I was a child, my ambition has been to live completely surrounded by music, my dream was to not miss anything, which is why I have never focused on a single musical discipline,” he said.
He first won an Academy Award in 1969 for the song “The Windmills of Your Mind” from the film “The Thomas Crown Affair”.
He followed that with Oscars for his music for “Summer of ’42” in 1972 and for “Yentl” in 1984.
Legrand, who had been scheduled to stage concerts in Paris in April, died early Saturday with his wife, the actress Macha Meril, his spokesman said. During his long career, he worked with some of the music world’s biggest stars such as Miles Davies, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli and Edith Piaf.
He also won five Grammys from 17 nominations, including one for the theme from “Summer of ’42”.
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