Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone dies at 91

Italian composer Ennio Morricone, the mastermind behind many iconic Spaghetti Western soundtracks, has died following complications from a fall at the age of 91.

Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer whose haunting scores to Spaghetti Westerns like A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly helped define a cinematic era, has died Italian news agency ANSA said on Monday. He was 91.

Italian composer Ennio Morricone has died at the age of 91. (REUTERS)

Ansa said Morricone had broken his femur some days ago and died during the night in a clinic in Rome. Born in Rome in 1928, Morricone wrote scores for some 400 films but his name was most closely linked with the director Sergio Leone with whom he worked on the now-classic Spaghetti Westerns as well as Once Upon a Time in America.

Morricone worked in almost all film genres — from horror to comedy — and some of his melodies are perhaps more famous than the films he wrote them for.