Two-time Oscar-winning composer James Horner has died in a plane crash at the age of 61, according to multiple reports. Horner, who was an experienced pilot, was flying one of his small aircrafts when it crashed north of Santa Barbara.
Horner was best known for composing the score for James Cameron’s Titanic, for which he won his two Oscars, one for the score and one for co-writing the original song “My Heart Will Go On” for Celine Dion. He also composed the score for Cameron’s Avatar and was pegged to do the same for the sequels.
Other Oscar-nominated scores by Horner included A Beautiful Mind, Braveheart, Apollo 13 and Field of Dreams, all of which were also nominated for Best Picture (the first two won the top Oscar), as well as Cameron’s earlier film Aliens and the song “Somewhere Out There” for An American Tail.
Horner’s career dates all the way back to 1978’s The Watcher and he had nearly 158 films for which he was credited as a composer and even more when you include the soundtracks that have included the songs that Horner composed.
His last films will be Antoine Fuqua’s boxing drama Southpaw, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and the Chilean miner film The 33.
