Monty Norman (''

né A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth reg ...

'' Noserovitch; 4 April 1928 – 11 July 2022) was a British composer, musician and singer. A contributor to West End musicals in the 1950s and 1960s, he is best known for composing the " James Bond Theme", first heard in the 1962 film ''Dr. No''. He was an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

and

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

winner, and a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

nominee.

Early life

Norman was born in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appli ...

in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have univ ...

on 4 April 1928. His father, Abraham Noserovitch (anglicised to Norman), was a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

cabinet maker who immigrated to the United Kingdom from

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

when he was a child; his mother, Ann (Berlyn), who was also Jewish, worked as a seamstress. He lived with his Jewish immigrant grandparents for the first few years of his life. As a child during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Norman was evacuated to

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...

from London but later returned during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. His mother gave him his first guitar (a

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

) when he was sixteen. As a young man he did

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, where he became interested in pursuing a career in singing. He also worked as a barber during this time.

Career

During the 1950s and early 1960s, Norman was a singer for

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

s such as those of Cyril Stapleton, Stanley Black,

Ted Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

, and

Nat Temple Nat Temple (18 July 1913 – 30 May 2008)
- accessed May 2011 was an English

with other singers and comedy stars such as Benny Hill,

Harry Secombe Sir Harold Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh comedian, actor, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, ...

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...

Harry Worth Harry Bourlon Illingsworth (20 November 1917 – 20 July 1989), professionally known as Harry Worth, was an English comedy actor, comedian and ventriloquist. Worth portrayed a charming, gentle and genial character, totally bemused by life, ...

Tommy Cooper Thomas Frederick Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a Welsh prop comedian and Magic (illusion), magician. As an entertainer, his appearance was large and lumbering at , and he habitually wore a red Fez (hat), fez when performing. He ...

, Jimmy James, and

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

. 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 Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...

, Tommy Steele,

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

, and

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

, 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'' (based on a 1956 French musical written by Alexandre Breffort and

Marguerite Monnot Marguerite Monnot (28 May 1903 – 12 October 1961) was a French songwriter and composer best known for having written many of the songs performed by Édith Piaf ("Milord", " Hymne à l'amour") and for the music in the stage musical '' Irma La ...

; the English version was nominated for a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1961), and '' Expresso Bongo'' (which ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

'' called the first

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

musical). ''Expresso Bongo'', written by

Wolf Mankowitz Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. He is particularly known for three novels— ''Make Me an Offer'' (1952), '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953) and ''My Old Man's a Dustma ...

, was a West End hit and was later made into a 1960 film starring a young

. Norman's later musicals include '' Songbook'' (also known as ''The Moony Shapiro Songbook in New York''), which was also nominated for a Broadway Tony and won an

; and '' Poppy'' (1982), which was also nominated for the Ivor Novello Award, and won the SWET award (renamed "the

Laurence Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

" in 1984) for "Best Musical". His further film work included music for the

Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

movie ''

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll ''The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll'' is a 1960 British horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Paul Massie as Dr. Jekyll, and co-stars Dawn Addams, Christopher Lee and David Kossoff. The screenp ...

'' (1960), '' The Day the Earth Caught Fire'' (1961), the

Eon Productions Eon Productions Ltd. is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK. ''Bond'' films Eon was started ...

movie '' Call Me Bwana'' (1963), and the TV miniseries '' Dickens of London'' (1976). Norman worked for several years on his unpublished autobiography, titled ''A Walking Stick Full of Bagels.''

James Bond Theme

Norman is best known for writing the " James Bond Theme", the signature theme of the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

franchise, and the

score Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian ...

to the first James Bond film, '' Dr. No''. Norman received royalty payments for the theme from 1962 on. However, as the producers were dissatisfied with Norman's arrangement, John Barry re-arranged the theme. Barry later claimed that it was actually he who wrote the theme, but Norman won two different

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...

actions for claiming that Barry was the composer, the last against ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' in 2001. In the made-for-DVD documentary ''Inside Dr. No'', Norman performed a music piece that he wrote for an unproduced stage musical based on '' A House for Mr Biswas'' several years earlier, entitled "Bad Sign, Good Sign", that he claimed resembles the melody of the "James Bond Theme" in several places. Norman collected around £485,000 in royalties between 1976 and 1999 for the use of the theme since ''Dr. No''.

Personal life

Norman married actress Diana Coupland in 1956. Together, they had a daughter before divorcing in 1975. He later married Rina Caesari in 2000 or 2001. They remained married until his death. He was a worshipper at the

Liberal Jewish Synagogue The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, or LJS ( he, קהל קדוש לב חדש, ''Qahal Kadosh Lev Chadash'', "Holy Congregation New Heart"), is a house of prayer in St John's Wood, London, founded in 1911. It is the oldest and largest member of Britai ...

. Norman died on 11 July 2022 at a hospital in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the ...

. He was 94, and suffered from an unspecified short illness prior to his death.

Musicals

* '' Make Me an Offer'' (1958) * '' Expresso Bongo'' (1958) * '' Irma La Douce'' (1958) *''The Art of Living'' (revue, 1960) *''Belle or the Ballad of Dr. Crippen'' (1961) * ''The Perils of Scobie Prilt'' (1963) * ''Pinkus'' (1967) * ''Quick, Quick, Slow'' (1969) * ''Stand and Deliver'' (1972) *''So Who Needs Marriage?'' (1975) * '' Songbook'' (1979) * '' Poppy'' (1982) * ''Pinocchio'' (1988)

References

Specific General
Audio interview
a
BBC Wiltshire
Bibliography *

External links

* Norman at Musical Theatre https://web.archive.org/web/20081206085914/http://www.musical-theatre.net/html/composers/montynorman.html * Norman's web site http://www.montynorman.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Monty 1928 births 2022 deaths 20th-century English musicians 20th-century English composers 21st-century English composers People from Stepney English film score composers English male film score composers Musicians from London English people of Latvian-Jewish descent English Jews