Ken Thorne was born on January 26, 1924 (Aquarius) in East Dereham, Norfolk, England, UK. He was married to Linda Hayes (23 March 1973 - 9 July 2014) until his death. They had 3 children together, Jennifer Coplin, Emily Thorne and Claire Thorne. He died on July 9, 2014 in West Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA. He is known for his work on Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983) and U-571 (2000). Ken is an Oscar-winning British composer and conductor who began work as a big band pianist in the 1940's. At age 27, he studied composition with private tutors at Cambridge.