Alfred John Ellory (18 June 1920, Cornwall – 5 July 2009) was a British musician best known for playing

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

on several of the

James Bond films James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Nive ...

in the 1960s. Ellory won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music as a teenager, where he studied with Robert Murchie. A member of the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, W ...

, Ellory provided music for

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

, including backing for the original

Ealing comedies The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during a ten-year period from 1947 to 1957. Often considered to reflect Britain's post-war spirit, the most celebrated films in the ...

. From the 1950s, Ellory turned freelance and provided music for radio and television series, including The Avengers and, later, The Professionals. He also played on the famous

Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic film ''The Pink ...

soundtracks by

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

. Other film work he played on included soundtracks for The Guns of Navarone and

Where Eagles Dare ''Where Eagles Dare'' is a 1968 war film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It follows a joint British-American Special Operations Executive team of paratroopers raiding a castle (shot on lo ...

, as well as for the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

on their song

The Fool on the Hill "The Fool on the Hill" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 EP and album '' Magical Mystery Tour''. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The lyrics describe the ...

.Telegraph.co.uk Obituary
(20 Aug 2009) Ellory was a keen exponent of alto and bass flute, instruments. Ellory played on some of the Bond films' scores during their heyday with Sean Connery in the 1960s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellory, Alfred John 1920 births 2009 deaths People from Cornwall English flautists 20th-century flautists