born Dec. 31, 1911, Milan, Italy
died April 10, 1979, Rome
Italian composer of film scores.
Rota had composed an oratorio and an opera by age 13. After studies at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute he began writing film scores. From 1950 to 1978 he served as director of the Liceo Musicale, a conservatory in Bari. In 1950 he also began his long association with Federico Fellini , for whom he would score films such as La strada (1955), La dolce vita (1960), 8 1 2 (1963), and Amarcord (1973). He provided scores for many other films including Francis Ford Coppola 's The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather: Part II (1974).