---
name: "Ornette Coleman"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ornette-coleman"
fi1m_id: "ornette-coleman"
imdb_id: "nm0171170"
tmdb_id: 998600
wikidata_id: "Q208797"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "9 March 1930"
died: "11 June 2015"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T21:51:35.313380+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ornette Coleman

## Identity

Ornette Coleman

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ornette-coleman
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** ornette-coleman
- **IMDb ID:** nm0171170
- **TMDB ID:** 998600
- **Wikidata ID:** Q208797
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornette_Coleman, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q208797, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0171170/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/998600

Composer. Born 9 March 1930 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Died 11 June 2015.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 9 March 1930, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- **Died:** 11 June 2015
- **Also known as:** Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornette_Coleman, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q208797, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0171170/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/998600

## Biography

Ornette Coleman was an American composer and saxophonist. He composed the score for David Cronenberg's *Naked Lunch* (1991) in collaboration with Howard Shore and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and provided music for *Detective* (1985).

Born Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman in Fort Worth, Texas, on 9 March 1930, he died in Manhattan, New York, on 11 June 2015. His other film credits include *Ornette: Made in America* (1985) and earlier shorts such as *Who's Crazy?* (1965). He received a MacArthur Foundation grant in 1994 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.

*Sources: imdb.com, allmusic.com, factmag.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Naked Lunch* (1991), Fi1m 78, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/naked-lunch.md)

## Complete filmography (16)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Ornette Coleman* (2018), as Themself
- *Charles Lloyd - Arrows Into Infinity* (2014), as Sax
- *All Magic Sands/Chappaqua* (2013), Original Music Composer
- *The Sparrow and the Tigress* (2010), Music
- *An Introduction to Harmolodics* (1995), as Music
- *Naked Lunch* (1991), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/naked-lunch.md)
- *Ornette: Made in America* (1986), Original Music Composer
- *Detective* (1985), Music
- *Repression* (1969), Music
- *Population Explosion* (1968), Music
- *Chappaqua* (1966), as Peyote eater
- *Who's Crazy?* (1965), Music
- *Catalog* (1961), Music
- *Ornette Coleman Group - Berlin 1971*, as Themself
- *Ornette Coleman Quartet, Barcelona 1987*, as Themself
- *Ornette Coleman & Prime Time - Live in Palalido 1980*, as Themself

## Gallery

- ![Ornette Coleman](https://film.one/media/person/79779/gallery-706a239ed926.jpg) Ornette Coleman — Geert Vandepoele, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Ornette_Coleman.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Double Video Still of Clara Gibson Maxwell's 2011 "Encuentro-Encuentro" Multi-Arts Site Responsive Ambulatory Casa de la Primera de America Performance: Finale ](https://film.one/media/person/79779/gallery-c65410e29fbe.png) Double Video Still of Clara Gibson Maxwell's 2011 "Encuentro-Encuentro" Multi-Arts Site Responsive Ambulatory Casa de la Primera de America Performance: Finale  — Davidamescurtis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Clara_Gibson_Maxwell%27s_2011_%22Encuentro-Encuentro%22_Multi-Arts_Site_Responsive_Ambulatory_Casa_de_la_Primera_de_America_Performance_Finale.png/1280px-Clara_Gibson_Maxwell%27s_2011_%22Encuentro-Encuentro%22_Multi-Arts_Site_Responsive_Ambulatory_Casa_de_la_Primera_de_America_Performance_Finale.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Ornette Coleman with Prime Time at the Caravan of Dreams (here with Charles Ellerbie, left, and Bern Nix, right) (1985)](https://film.one/media/person/79779/gallery-d6002f582d19.jpg) Ornette Coleman with Prime Time at the Caravan of Dreams (here with Charles Ellerbie, left, and Bern Nix, right) (1985) — Craig Howell, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Ellerbie_Coleman_Nix.jpg/1280px-Ellerbie_Coleman_Nix.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Ornette Coleman live at Saalfelden 2009](https://film.one/media/person/79779/gallery-3fb4885390c9.jpg) Ornette Coleman live at Saalfelden 2009 — Davide Leonardi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Ornette_Coleman_2.JPG/1280px-Ornette_Coleman_2.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Ornette Coleman live at Saalfelden 2009](https://film.one/media/person/79779/gallery-f2b127e3036d.jpg) Ornette Coleman live at Saalfelden 2009 — Davide Leonardi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Ornette_Coleman_3.JPG/1280px-Ornette_Coleman_3.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Ornette Coleman (2005)](https://film.one/media/person/79779/gallery-f6fc40be00ee.jpg) Ornette Coleman (2005) — Andy Newcombe Farnborough, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Ornette_Coleman_5.jpg/1280px-Ornette_Coleman_5.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Other awards — 6 won

- Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 2007: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (won)
- Pulitzer Prize for Music 2007: Pulitzer Prize for Music (won), for *Sound Grammar*
- Praemium Imperiale 2001: Praemium Imperiale (won)
- MacArthur Fellows Program 1994: MacArthur Fellows Program (won)
- Guggenheim Fellowship 1974: Guggenheim Fellowship (won)
- Guggenheim Fellowship 1967: Guggenheim Fellowship (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ornette-coleman