Composer George Fenton, Gandhi and Blue Planet scorer, dies at 76

George Fenton, a prolific composer whose scores shaped acclaimed films and natural history documentaries, died unexpectedly on Monday at age 76. Born George Howe in Bromley, Kent in 1949, Fenton became one of Britain's most decorated film and television composers, earning five Oscar nominations and 28 major awards across his career.

Fenton's film work spanned decades and genres. He received Oscar nominations for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982)—his fourth film score, completed while almost entirely self-taught—and for Cry Freedom (1987), on which he collaborated with South African jazz musician Jonas Gwangwa. His film credits included Groundhog Day, The Fisher King, and The Remains of the Day. On screen, his early career included a recurring role in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale Farm in the mid-1970s before he pivoted fully to composition.

His television work became equally influential. Throughout the 1980s, he scored award-winning drama series including The Jewel in the Crown, The Monocled Mutineer, and Alan Bennett's Talking Heads. He composed theme music for BBC News programmes including One O'Clock News, Six O'Clock News, Nine O'Clock News, Newsnight, and The Money Programme. Beginning in 1990 with David Attenborough's The Trials of Life, Fenton spent a decade writing for natural history documentaries, composing scores for The Blue Planet (2001), Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, and Life. In 2022, he reunited with producer Alastair Fothergill and Attenborough for BBC One's Wild Isles series. His Blue Planet work earned Bafta, Emmy, and Ivor Novello awards.

Fenton's path to composition was unconventional. He chose electric guitar at age seven, famously taking early lessons from a man who arrived posing as a chimney sweep. He rejected opportunities to attend university and music college, instead pursuing performance and theatre work. In 1968, he appeared in Alan Bennett's West End play Forty Years On, adopting his mother's maiden name after union rules prevented two actors from sharing the same surname. A year later, he signed a record deal and scored a top 10 hit in Sweden with a cover of The Beatles' Maxwell's Silver Hammer, but his solo music career proved short-lived.

He received his first composing role in 1974 as composer and musical director for a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Twelfth Night in Stratford-upon-Avon. His collaborative approach defined his later work: on Gandhi, he worked with Indian composer and instrumentalist Ravi Shankar to reflect the country's musical traditions; on Cry Freedom, the title track featured Fenton singing a list of anti-apartheid activists imprisoned or killed by the South African government.

Fenton was made a CBE for services to music in 2023. He is survived by his wife Amanda, ex-wife Jane, children Gemma, Grace, and Bridget, and grandchildren Lola, Audrey, Alfred, George, Frank, and Beatrice.