# Lalo Schifrin has died at 93. (Composer of the Mission Impossible theme !) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death, music\ **Created:** [June 27, 2025, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196 "2025-06-27T12:52:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/1 "2025-06-27T12:52:25Z")
His list of credits is pretty impressive :- > **[Lalo Schifrin | Filmography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalo_Schifrin#Filmography)** > > Selected credits: Dark Intruder (1965) Cool Hand Luke (1967) Bullitt (1968) The Fox (1967) Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968) Che! (1969) Kelly’s Heroes (1970) Dirty Harry (1971) The Beguiled (1971) THX 1138 (1971) Joe Kidd (1972) Enter the Dragon (1973) Magnum Force (1973) The Eagle Has Landed (1976) Voyage of the Damned (1976) Rollercoaster (1977) The Amityville Horror (1979) The Competition (1980) Amityville II: The Possession (1982) Sudden Impact (1983) The Sting II (1983) Black Moon Rising (1986) Rush Hour (1998) Tango (1998) Rush Hour 2 (2001) Bringing Down the House (2003) After the Sunset (2004) Rush Hour 3 (2007) Television 1965: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 1966: Mission: Impossible 1967: Mannix 1969: Medical Center 1974: Planet of the Apes 1975: Starsky and Hutch 1976: Most Wanted 1982: Chicago Story 1984: Glitter 1987: Sparky’s Magic Piano ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/2 "2025-06-27T12:55:00Z")
I had a cassette of his various TV and movies themes that I used to listen to. It ended with a medley called “Schifrin Suite”; I remember the suite included the theme to _Rollercoaster_ (because that was the first time I had ever heard of the movie _Rollercoaster_). Pretty damn groovy! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/doIHVftnREk/maxresdefault.jpg "Roller Coaster (From the Universal Film "Rollercoaster")") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doIHVftnREk) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/3 "2025-06-27T13:43:24Z")
He’s distantly related to skier Mikaela Shiffrin. Not very close, but traceable. Other than that, I got nuthin. ---
**Author:** ![Tokushizu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Tokushizu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tokushizu)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/4 "2025-06-27T13:49:18Z")
I saw him perform at the Blue Note in NYC in 2002 (I wrote in another thread that I had seen him perform at the Village Vanguard, but last night I remembered that it wasn’t there but at the Blue Note.) I sat right next to the stage about 10 feet from the piano he was playing. He was magnificent and after the show, the friend and I whom I went to the show with approached him to tell him how much we loved his music. He very kindly offered to take photos with him and give us his autograph. It was a night I’ll never forget. Thank you for your music and kindness, Mr. Schifrin. May you rest in eternal peace. 🙏🙇🙏 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/5 "2025-06-27T13:50:54Z")
Here he is playing it _really fast_ on the piano (not good video). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/H5SYHcD_CYA/maxresdefault.jpg "Theme from Mission Impossible played by Lalo Schifrin (1995)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5SYHcD_CYA) ---
**Author:** ![Tokushizu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Tokushizu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tokushizu)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/6 "2025-06-27T13:53:56Z")
Many people know this theme music from Eyewitness News and other news programs. But not everyone knows it was originally used in the “tar sequence” scene of “Cool Hand Luke”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KYyaX0HAjy0/maxresdefault.jpg "WABC TV Eyewitness News Archival Theme (1968)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYyaX0HAjy0) ---
**Author:** ![Tokushizu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Tokushizu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tokushizu)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/7 "2025-06-27T13:56:09Z")
Here’s the charming Mr. Schifrin discussing how the use of the theme came about: > **[Composer Lalo Schifrin on "Cool Hand Luke" becoming the "Eyewitness News"...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f74LI-GoMxk%2F)** > > For his full interview, see www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/lalo-schifrin (sorry for the multiple posts/links) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/8 "2025-06-27T14:31:57Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Television > 1965: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Just to clarify: he didn’t write the famous theme to _The Man from U.N.C.L.E._; Jerry Goldsmith did. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/9 "2025-06-27T14:54:08Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > _Bullitt_ (1968) 🙂 He was born in Buenos Aires Argentina as Boris Claudio Schifrin, Lalo is an Argentinian nickname for Claudio. He won five Grammy Awards including one Latin Grammy and he six Academy Award nominations. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, near 7000 Hollywood Boulevard. Rest in Peace, Lalo Schifrin. Thank you for your music. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/10 "2025-06-27T15:18:17Z")
It’s not usually known, by Mr. Schifrin started out as a sociologist (!) He had a degree from the University of Buenos Aires. My mother’s boss (A sociology professor at Rutgers University) knew him through those channels. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/11 "2025-06-27T16:08:27Z")
I dug up my old cassette tape. It was Mr. Schifrin conducting the San Diego Symphony Pops: half Hitchcock music, half Schifrin music. > **[Hitchcock - Master of Mayhem (SLCP-3003, 1990) - The Alfred Hitchcock Wiki](https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Hitchcock_-_Master_of_Mayhem_(SLCP-3003,_1990))** > > Hitchcock - Master of Mayhem (SLCP-3003, 1990) ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/12 "2025-06-27T17:01:05Z")
The Mission: Impossible theme is in 5/4 time, which I imagine makes it sound quite distinctive to most pop music. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/13 "2025-06-27T19:06:09Z")
Professional musicians might find 5/4 easy to play, but my high school band failed miserably at it. We gave up after a minute or so, mercifully. RIP, Mr Schifrin. You were brilliant, ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/14 "2025-06-27T20:48:18Z")
A fact I learned here, maybe in the trivia thread, is that the famous duh duh dah/dah in the Mission: Impossible theme is the Morse Code for M (dash dash) and I (dot dot). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lalo-schifrin-has-died-at-93-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme/1020196/15 "2025-06-27T21:24:18Z")
The theme for the _ **Inspector Morse** _ TV series had the same thing.