The composer of the James Bond film theme has passed away at the age of 94.

Monty Norman was born Monty Noserovitch, and grew up in the East End of London. The son of a Latvian immigrant father, he got his first guitar at the age of 16.

He worked as a composer for several West End shows before producer Cubby Broccoli asked him to compose the theme for the first Bond film, 'Dr. No', in 1962.

The theme has gone on to be one of the most enduring and most famous film themes of all time, and is still used on Bond films to this day. Although John Barry arranged the theme, it was Norman who composed it - and he took umbrage at any credit that Barry took for his work. In 2001, he won £30,000 in libel damages from The Sunday Times after an article published in the paper suggested that he was not the composer of the guitar line.

The theme was re-worked from an old abandoned composition that Norman had intended for use in a stage adaptation of VS Naipul's novel 'A House For Mr Biswas'. He change the main instrument from sitar to electric guitar and captured what he later called Bond's "sexiness, his mystery, his ruthlessness - it's all there in a few notes."

He is believed to have earned £485,000 in royalties between 1976 and 1999 for the theme alone.

Norman was married to late actress Diana Coupland and they had one daughter before divorcing after 20 years. He is survived by his second wife Rina Caesari and his daughter.