Jaws flute soloist Sheridon Stokes dies

Musician Sheridon Stokes, who performed flute solos on John Williams scores for Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and The Witches of Eastwick (1987), has died.

He was born in 1935 and became the youngest contract musician in Hollywood at just the age of 20, and even if you didn't know his name, you certainly knew the raft of classic film and television scores which he played on, including the opening to the iconic Lalo Schifrin Mission: Impossible theme and Lost in Space.

Notable film scores include Cleopatra (1963) and The Sound of Music (1965) to Ghost (1990) by Maurice Jarre; Cocoon (1985), Patriot Games (1992), Sneakers (1992), The Rocketeer (1991) and Jumanji (1995) by James Horner.

He also played on the Miklós Rózsa score for the Hitchcockian-thriller Last Embrace (1979), starring Roy Scheider, and the "Jaws with a car" horror thriller, The Car (1977), which starred James Brolin and had a score by Leonard Rosenman. Stokes would go onto work with Rosenman again on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).

Flutist Sheridon Stokes may have beamed up to the great orchestra pit in the sky, but he leaves behind a lasting legacy of great scores he has played on to much-loved movies. Our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

Words by Dean Newman

If you would like to write for The Daily Jaws, please visit our ‘work with us’ page

For all the latest Jaws, shark and shark movie news, follow The Daily Jaws on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.