5-time Oscar-winner composer John Barry dies at 77

John Barry, who wrote music for a dozen James Bond films, including "You Only Live Twice" and "Goldfinger" and developed the twanging guitar riff in the suave spy's theme music, has died. He was 77. The English-born composer wrote a long list of scores, including "Somewhere In Time", "Midnight Cowboy," "Dances with Wolves" and "Body Heat." He was proud of writing both for big action blockbusters and smaller films. He won two Oscars for "Born Free" in 1966, for best score and best song. He also earned statuettes for the scores to "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Out of Africa" (1985) and "Dances with Wolves" (1990).
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Margaret Whiting

Margaret Whiting (July 22, 1924 — January 10, 2011) was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s. She was born in Detroit and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1929. The sweet-voiced big band singer of sentimental ballads such as "Moonlight in Vermont" and "It Might As Well Be Spring" died in New Jersey. Margaret Whiting was 86. Whiting sold millions of records in the 1940s and '50s. She died Monday, 11 January 2011, at an entertainers retirement home in Englewood, N.J. She had lived in New York City for many years before moving to the home in March. Whiting grew up with the music business. She was the daughter of Richard Whiting, a prolific composer of such hits as "My Ideal," "Sleepy Time Gal" and "Beyond the Blue Horizon." Her family's California home was a gathering place for such songwriters as George and Ira Gershwin, Frank Loesser, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer.

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