Born in 1946 in Rome, Italian film composer Nicola Piovani gained international renown via his Academy Award-winning score for Roberto Benigni's 1998 feature La Vita è Bella (aka Life Is Beautiful). Making his cinematic debut with 1969's N.P. Il Segreto, Piovani earned his first widespread notice for his contributions to Marco Bellocchio's 1970 effort Nel Nome del Padre, which heralded an ongoing creative collaboration with the director. The composer was also a favorite of the brothers Taviani, Mario Monicelli, Nanni Moretti, and the renowned Federico Fellini. Although La Vita è Bella earned Piovani an Oscar, he lost out on a Grammy Award to composer Randy Newman. Piovani also won the Ciak d'Oro in 2001 for his work on Moretti's La Stanza del Figlio. ~ Jason Ankeny