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Monty Norman

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Monty Norman

Biography

Monty Norman (4 April 1928, London, Eng. – 11 July 2022, Slough, Eng.) was a British singer and film composer.

Born Monty Noserovitch, he was the only child of Jewish parents, Annie (née Berlin) and Abraham Noserovitch. As a child during World War II, Norman was evacuated from London but later returned during the Blitz. As a young man he did national service in the RAF, where he became interested in pursuing a career in singing.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Norman was a singer for big bands such as those of Cyril Stapleton, Stanley Black, Ted Heath, and Nat Temple. He also sang in various variety shows, sharing top billing with other singers and comedy stars such as Benny Hill, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Harry Worth, Tommy Cooper, Jimmy James, Tony Hancock, Jimmy Edwards, and Max Miller. One of his songs, False Hearted Lover, was successful internationally.

From the late 1950s, he moved from singing to composing, including songs for performers such as Cliff Richard, Tommy Steele, Count Basie and Bob Hope, and lyrics for musicals and (subsequently) films. In 1957 and 1958, he wrote lyrics for the musicals Make Me an Offer, the English-language version of Irma la Douce. Expresso Bongo, was a West End hit, and was later made into a 1960 film.. Further film work included music for the Hammer movie The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), the Bob Hope movie Call Me Bwana (1963), and the TV miniseries Dickens of London (1976).

Norman was famous for writing the music to the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, including the James Bond Theme, the signature theme of the James Bond franchise.


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