Monty Norman (born April 4, 1928) is a singer and film composer best known for the creation of the James Bond Theme.

Monty Norman (left) has been credited with writing “The James Bond Theme”, one of the signature themes for the James Bond films.

Norman has been credited with writing the James Bond Theme, one of the signature themes for the James Bond films, and has received royalties since 1962. The classic version of the James Bond Theme was orchestrated by John Barry for the first James Bond film, Dr No, in 1962. Barry claims that he actually wrote the theme, but Norman has won two libel actions against publishers for claiming that Barry was the composer, most recently against The Sunday Times in 2001.

In the made-for-DVD documentary, Inside Dr No, Norman performs a piece of music he had written for the stage several years earlier entitled “Bad Sign, Good Sign” that resembles the melody of the “James Bond Theme” in several places. Barry went on to compose 11 more Bond scores, and “The 007 Theme” (dominated by brass and percussion). Norman admits to having collected around £485,000 in royalties between the years 1976 and 1999 for the theme since Dr No.

See also:

• Bond films: Soundtrack