Who is John Barry? Have you seen any of the James Bond movies?
Few days ago, on Jan. 31 at 8:23 PM to be exact, I got an email from the Executive Director of Oyster Bay Historical Society of which I was the Past Treasurer and currently serving on its Board. The email was addressed to OBHS Staff and Trustees. The email stated that Composer John Barry of Centre Island, NY died Sunday.
I kept wondering what had John Barry got to do with the Oyster Bay Historical Society. I never knew the guy and I don't remember him being a part of the Oyster Bay Historical Society. Then the next day, the New York Times ran a two-column obituary of John Barry. Apparently he was very famous. I never knew it. Three local papers carried the big news. Then today, my husband said there was an old interview of him being played on the radio.
For those who do not know John Barry of which I was one of them till he passed away, he lived in Centre Island, NY. Centre Island, NY is just across the Oyster Bay Harbor and has the same zip code as Oyster Bay, NY. Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul and Billy Joel, the entertainer have homes there. John Barry composed scores for "From Russia With Love" and 10 James Bond films. He won five Academy awards as a composer for "Born Free", "Dances with Wolves" and other films. He also composed music for "Body Heat" (1981), "Midnight Cowboy" (1969). He won two Oscars for "Born Free", one for best score and another one for best song. He also won Oscars for his work on "The Lion in Winter" (1968) "Out of Africa" (1985) and "Dances with Wolves" (1990). His scores for "Mary, Queen of Scots" (1971) and "Chaplin" (1992) were nominated for Academy Awards.
After doing the orchestration for "Dr. No" (1962), John Barry went on to score "From Russia With Love" (1963), "Goldfinger" (1964), "Thunderball" (1965), "You Only Live Twice" (1967), "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969), "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971), "The Man With The Golden Gun" (1974), "Moonraker" (1979), "Octopussy" (1983), "A View To a Kill" (1985) and "The Living Daylights" (1987). After "The Living Daylights", he decided to quit doing Bond scores.
Reading his obit, I believe Oyster Bay Historical Society and the town of Oyster Bay are sad to see one of their famous residents passed on. The fact that plenty of people in Oyster Bay, NY do not know him nor know of him just proves that celebrities could live in Oyster Bay, NY and enjoy their anonymity if they wanted to.
Copyright © 2011. By Rosalinda Morgan, "The Rose Lady". All rights reserved. *COMPOSER JOHN BARRY OF CENTRE ISLAND, NY PASSED AWAY
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