Ennio Morricone received his first Academy Award nomination in 1979 for the score to Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978).[81]
In 1984, the U.S. distributor of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America reportedly failed to file the proper paperwork so that Morricone's score, regarded as one of his best, would be eligible for consideration for an Academy Award.
Two years later, Morricone received his second Oscar nomination for The Mission.[81] He also received Oscar nominations for his scores to The Untouchables (1987), Bugsy (1991), Malèna (2000), and The Hateful Eight (2016).[81] On 28 February 2016, Morricone won his first Academy Award for his score to The Hateful Eight.
Morricone and Alex North are the only composers to receive the Honorary Oscar since the award's introduction in 1928.[171] Ennio Morricone received the honorary Academy Award on 25 February 2007, presented by Clint Eastwood, "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music." With the statuette came a standing ovation.[172] In conjunction with the honor, Morricone released a tribute album, We All Love Ennio Morricone, that featured as its centerpiece Celine Dion's rendition of "I Knew I Loved You" (based on "Deborah's Theme" from Once Upon a Time in America), which she performed at the ceremony. Behind-the-scenes studio production and recording footage of "I Knew I Loved You" can be viewed in the debut episode of the QuincyJones.com Podcast.[173] The lyric, as with Morricone's Love Affair, had been penned by Oscar-winning husband-and-wife duo Marilyn and Alan Bergman. Morricone's acceptance speech was in his native Italian tongue and was interpreted by Clint Eastwood, who stood to his left. Eastwood and Morricone had in fact met two days earlier for the first time in 40 years at a reception.