Born in Providence, RI; educated at LSU and Julliard. A piano prodigy as a child, he formed his own band at 15. He scored his first film in Italy, while touring there with a jazz combo. Much of his Hollywood work is refreshingly original. But his theme for ROCKY (1976), one of his best known movie scores, for which he was Oscar®-nominated, was partly borrowed from an anonymous Baroque composition. He won an Academy Award for the score of THE RIGHT STUFF (1983). In over 130 film and television projects, some of his other notable (non-nominated) composing credits include THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS (1970), HARRY AND TONTO (1974), F.I.S.T. and AN UNMARRIED WOMAN (both 1978), ROCKY II and THE SEDUCTION OF JOE TYNAN (both 1979), PRIVATE BENJAMIN, THE FORMULA and GLORIA (all 1980), NEIGHBORS (1981), ROCKY III and THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON (both 1982), UNFAITHFULLY YOURS, THE KARATE KID, MASS APPEAL and THE BEAR (all 1984), F/X and THE KARATE KID, PART II (both 1986), BABY BOOM and BROADCAST NEWS (both 1987), LEAN ON ME, COHEN AND TATE and THE KARATE KID III (all 1989), ROCKY V (1990), NECESSARY ROUGHNESS and GRAND CANYON (both 1991), ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (1993), 8 SECONDS and THE NEXT KARATE KID (both 1994), SPY HARD (1996), COYOTE MOON and THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (both 1999), FX, TORITLLA SOUP and BOYS ON THE RUN (all 2001), AVENGING ANGELO (2002), THE GOSPEL OF LOU (2003), ROCKY BALBOA (2006), and HOLD-UP (2008). Television projects include "In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan" (1977), "Falcon Crest" (1981), "Dynasty" (1981), "Cagney & Lacey" (1982), "Emerald Point N.A.S." (1983), "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" (theme - 1984), "North and South" (1985 mini-series), "American Gladiators" (theme - 1989) and "Tales from the Crypt" (1989). Conti has acted as musical director for the annual Academy Awards ceremonies and (through 2008) has held the baton for 19 of the most recent telecasts.  Nominated for Music Best Song 1976: ROCKY "Gonna Fly Now" - Music  Nominated for Music Best Song 1981: FOR YOUR EYES ONLY "For Your Eyes Only" - Music  Music Scoring Awards (Best Original Score) 1983: THE RIGHT STUFF 3 nominations, 1 Award