James Horner, Film Composer for 'Titanic' and 'Braveheart,' Is Dead

                     

The consummate film composer James Roy Horner,  who was known for his heart-tugging scores for Field of Dreams, Braveheart and Titanic, for which he won two Academy Awards, died Monday in a plane crash near Santa Barbara. He was 61. 

His death was confirmed by Sylvia Patrycja who is identified on Horner's film music page as his assistant. He wrote a post on Facebook on Monday. "He died doing what he loved. Thank you for all your support and love and see you down the road."  Horner was piloting the small aircraft when it crashed into a remote area about 60 miles north of Santa Barbara, officials said. An earlier report noted that the plane, which was registered to the composer, had gone down, but the pilot had not been identified.

"We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent,"

For his work on the 1997 best picture winner Titanic, directed by James Cameron, Horner captured the Oscar for original dramatic score, and he nabbed another Academy Award for original song (shared with lyricist Will Jennings) for "My Heart Will Go On," performed by Celine Dion.

                             

James Horner hails from Los Angeles, California, United States.  He was born in August 14, 1953 (age 61) and married to Sarah Horner. James Roy Horner was an American composer, conductor, and orchestrator of film scores. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements.  He was an accomplished concert hall composer before he moved into writing film scores. His first major film score was for the 1979 film The Lady in Red, but did not establish himself as a mainstream composer until he worked on the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Horner's score for Titanic is the best selling orchestral film soundtrack of all time while Titanic and Avatar, both directed by James Cameron, are the two highest-grossing films of all time.  He earned 10 Oscar noms in all, also being recognized for his work on two other best picture winners: Braveheart (1995) and A Beautiful Mind (2001). He also received noms for An American Tail (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Apollo 13 (1995) and House of Sand and Fog (2003).

His lengthy film résumé includes The Lady in Red (1979), Wolfen (1981), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1983), Red Heat (1988), Glory (1989), The Rocketeer (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), Jumanji (1995), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Troy (2004) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).