Born in
Burano (an island of
Venice), into a family of musicians, Donaggio began studying violin at the age of ten, first at the Benedetto Marcello conservatory in
Venice, followed by the
Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in
Milan. At the age of 14, he made his solo debut in a
Vivaldi concert for Italian radio, then went on to play for both the
I Solisti Veneti and the Solisti di Milano. The discovery of rock and roll during the summer of 1959 ended Donaggio's classical career when he made his singing debut with
Paul Anka. He then began to write his own songs and established himself as one of Italy's prominent singer-songwriters. He took part in the
Sanremo Festival with "
Come sinfonia" (1961) and had a string of successes including "
Una casa in cima al mondo". However, his greatest hit was the 1965 hit "Io che non vivo", which sold 80 million records worldwide and was performed most popularly in English as "
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" by
Dusty Springfield and
Elvis Presley. His first film was the British/Italian horror film ''
Don't Look Now''. Since then he has composed music for several films, including
Dario Argento's
Two Evil Eyes,
Trauma and
Do You Like Hitchcock? He also composed the scores for several horror films including
Piranha,
Tourist Trap,
The Howling,
The Black Cat and
Seed of Chucky. He works regularly with US director
Brian De Palma, scoring De Palma's
Carrie,
Home Movies,
Dressed to Kill,
Blow Out,
Body Double,
Raising Cain and
Passion. In 2012 he was awarded the
Lifetime Achievement Award from the
World Soundtrack Academy. ==Filmography==