Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 1925 – 8 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music.

His most famous works included Where Eagles Dare, Battle of Britain, 633 Squadron, Margaret Rutherford's Miss Marple films, and Frenzy.

Born in Plymouth, Devon, England,[1] Goodwin learned to play the piano and trumpet from the age of five which allowed him to join the school band.

[1] Whilst working as a copyist, he formed his own orchestra in his spare time and began arranging and conducting recordings for over fifty performers, which resulted in more than 100 chart successes.

Goodwin learned to play the piano by the age of five and returned to London four years later, where he attended Willesden County Grammar School.

[2] Upon the outbreak of World War II, the family moved to Harrow, Middlesex, and Goodwin attended Pinner County Grammar School.

He accompanied Peter Sellers on his Goodness Gracious Me album,[6] and began to broadcast and make records with his Ron Goodwin Concert Orchestra.

He simultaneously made his own series of recordings and broadcasts as Ron Goodwin and his Concert Orchestra, and, in addition, began to compose scores for documentary films at Merton Park Studios.

This includes work on 633 Squadron (1964), Operation Crossbow (1965), Where Eagles Dare (1968), Battle of Britain (1969), for which he (mostly) replaced William Walton, plus Force Ten from Navarone (1978).

He wrote the scores for Of Human Bondage (1964), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972, replacing Henry Mancini), two movies featuring Morecambe and Wise, and the Norman Wisdom film, The Early Bird (1965).

[7][8] A 30-second variation of his 1969 composition for the film Monte Carlo or Bust is used as the intro for the BBC Radio Four panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.

Goodwin wrote the television advertising jingles such as Noddy's chant, "I like Ricicles: they're twicicle as nicicles", and the "Mr Sheen shines umpteen things clean" song, inspired by Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.

[11] In December 2002, Goodwin completed his 32nd consecutive year of Christmas concerts in packed venues across the South of England.