John Ellis (3)

American oboist, teacher, and oenologist, who played on numerous film scores, including scores by John Williams (4), Jerry Goldsmith, and many others.

Ellis grew up in Los Angeles where both of his parents sang opera and made musicals. He had already played on some B films when he got his chance to play on Alex North's score for "Cleopatra" (1963), which he stated to have been his first "big film." Ellis and his family left Los Angeles in 1979. Eventually he moved to North Carolina, where he worked as a professor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) (1984–2010), played professionally with the Winston Salem Symphony, and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and traveled back to LA to play on soundtrack recordings.

Born: 26 March 1943 in Los Angeles, California, USA
Died: 11 September 2015 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA