We've lost one of the most talented supporting narrative composers we've ever known. You probably hear Goldsmith's music every day and don't even known it; his body of work is simply enormous. He wrote the music for:

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Oscar nominated) (and therefore the theme for Star Trek: The Next Generation)
• Star Trek: Voyager (Emmy winner)
• Patton (Oscar nominated)
• Mulan (Oscar nominated
• L.A. Confidential (Oscar nominated)
• Hoosiers (Oscar nominated)
• Poltergeist (Oscar nominated)
• Chinatown (Oscar nominated)
• Planet of the Apes (the original, Oscar nominated)
• The Omen (Oscar winner)
• Total Recall
• Alien
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek: Nemesis
• The Mummy
• First Knight
• Basic Instinct
• Gremlins
• Outland
• Masada
• MacArthur
• Logan's Run
• The Wind and the Lion (a perennial Pride of Oklahoma favorite)
• Theme from The Waltons
• Room 222
• Our Man Flint and In Like Flint
• Von Ryan's Express
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
• Themes from Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare TV shows

...and literally hundreds more. IMDB lists 310 known composition credits for him. There's an entire Web site devoted to analysis and deconstruction of Goldsmith scores.

It's fascinating that Gene Roddenberry turned to Jerry Goldsmith for the "larger" Star Trek themes once they went to movies and five more TV series, because Goldsmith often used Alexander Courage - composer of the original Star Trek theme - as his orchestrator.

The site also confirms a story I read about Air Force One: director Wolfgang Petersen decided with two weeks to go that he didn't like the original score written and recorded by Randy Newman, so they called up Jerry Goldsmith, who wrote the majestic (but not "loud and blatty") score and recorded it for the film in just two weeks. It so unnerved Goldsmith that, according to IMDB, from then on he requested scoring assignments months before a film's final cut, but think of it - to score a major Hollywood action picture and record it in just two weeks? Incredible.

Much of the entertainment you know wouldn't be what you know without Jerry Goldsmith. He leaves behind a wife and five children, including composer Joel Goldsmith, who has 57 IMDB composition credits listed, incluing the Stargate SG-1 and Witchblade TV series.

He also leaves behind enough music for three lifetimes, and I wish it were four. Thank you, Jerry, and Godspeed.