Roy Budd born 14 March 1947

Roy at 7years old

Born in South Norwood, South London, Budd became interested in music at an early age and began to play the piano when he was two, initially by ear and then by copying various melodies he heard by listening to the radio. When he was six, two Austrian music experts visited him at home and after various tests, found that he had perfect pitch. In 1953, he made his public concert debut at the London Coliseum. By the age of eight, he could play the Wurlitzer organ and four years later he was appearing on television at the London Palladium. Although widely thought to be a self-taught pianist, he did also receive piano lessons from a lady called Mrs Sax who also lived in Mitcham. 

In 1950 and 1951 he featured on the Carroll Levis show on radio. Roy also won a talent competition on a television talent show hosted by Bert Weedon in 1952. He sang some Jerry Lee Lewis songs when he was eleven years old with his brother Peter and a friend at the Sutton Granada under the name The Blue Devils. He formed the Roy Budd Trio with bassist Peter McGurk and his cousin, drummer Trevor Tomkins before leaving school and embarking on a career as a jazz pianist. 

While in residence at the London club the Bull's Head, Budd was befriended by composer Jack Fishman, who helped him land a record contract with Pye Records; his debut single, 1965's "Birth of the Budd," was followed two years later by the full-length Pick Yourself Up!! This Is Roy Budd. 

In the wake of 1968's Roy Budd at Newport, he made his film score début for director Ralph Nelson, who was looking for an English composer for his western Soldier Blue. Budd recorded a tape of his own interpretation of music by composers Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Max Steiner, Dimitri Tiomkin and Lalo Schifrin. Apart from the main theme, which he based on Buffy Sainte-Marie's hit song of the same title, he composed all the music required for the film and conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which Nelson commissioned at the start of the film's production. 

In 1971, still in his early twenties, he composed one of his best known scores, the music for the film Get Carter. The film's budget reputedly allowed only £450 for the score, but he overcame this restriction by using only three musicians, including himself playing electric piano and harpsichord simultaneously. That same year Budd was asked by Nelson to compose the music to Flight of the Doves, and worked with Dana who sang the film's theme; and composed the scores for the adventure Kidnapped and the western Catlow. In 1972 he recorded the score to Fear Is the Key, which was based on the Alistair MacLean novel. Whilst recording the score, Budd was influenced by Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes and Kenny Baker, thus giving the music a jazz-sounding theme. Scott played the saxophone for the car chase sequence. 

In 1972, as his career was peaking, Budd married the actress and singer Caterina Valente, but they divorced seven years later. They had a son named Alexander, Budd remained one of the busiest composers in British film throughout the decade, scoring well over two dozen pictures including Kidnapped, 1973's The Stone Killer and 1978's The Wild Geese; Budd also continued making solo recordings, in 1976 issuing Everything's Coming Up Roses: The Musical World of Stephen Sondheim. 

Budd's film work in the eighties included the scores for Mama Dracula (1980), Field of Honor (1986), and Picha's adult cartoons The Missing Link (1980) and The Big Bang (1987). Returning to his first love, he played jazz shows at Duke's Bar in Marylebone, London, partnering with harmonica player, Larry Adler. He also arranged for and accompanied Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, and Charles Aznavour. 

Budd recorded two albums of film music with the London Symphony Orchestra. The first contained "Star Wars Trilogy", "Superman", "E.T.", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Star Trek: The Full Suite", "Alien", "Dr. Who", "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger". This was recorded at the end of May and beginning of June 1984 at the CTS Studio in Wembley. In 1985, the London Symphony Orchestra made a recording of the music from The Wild Geese, again at CTS Studio. Budd's other solo albums include Live at Newport, Everything is Coming Up Roses, and Have a Jazzy Christmas. 

The hectic pace clearly took its toll, however, and shortly after completing a new symphonic score for the 1925 silent adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera, Budd died suddenly on August 7, 1993 at the age of just 46. It wasn’t until nearly a quarter of a century later when Roy’s widow, Sylvia, fulfilled his dream and the moving masterpiece was performed at the London Coliseum in October 2017.

(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)