A New Zealand-born composer who scored films and taught music at two Los Angeles colleges has died following a cardiac event while hiking, aged 53.
Mark Smythe collapsed on a trail on Mt Wilson, in the hills east of LA, on Saturday, May 9, the Los Angeles Times has reported.
His cause of death was listed as atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, a condition where deposits built up along artery walls, which could trigger a heart attack.
First responders reached the site around 10am and tried to resuscitate him, but were unsuccessful, the LA Times reported.
Local police said no foul play was suspected.
Smythe had been department chair of composing for visual media at Los Angeles Music College and a media composition professor at California State University, Northridge.
His sister, Kate Ward-Smythe, confirmed his death on Facebook on Monday, writing that he had been hiking with friends when he collapsed.
"It is a comfort to know that he was doing one of the things he loved, hiking in the hills, and we are grateful to his wonderful friends (and emergency service responders) who tried so hard to resuscitate him," she wrote.
"Mark was a strong, larger-than-life connector in LA, as a professor, composer, musician, and loyal friend. He was also fiercely talented, and an absolute cheerleader for music performance and recording across multiple genres.
"He was only just getting started and had so much more to give."
In a 2017 RNZ interview, Smythe said he had held a US green card since October 2013, having spent two months working with an attorney on a 785-page application.
"They have a list of 10 criteria for aliens of extraordinary ability, of which I'm officially one. And initially, when I started working on it, I only fulfilled three of them, but I managed to fulfil seven of the criteria by the end of it all."
He previously worked in Melbourne, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Among Smythe's works was Flying South, a 22-minute scenic docudrama traversing New Zealand's South Island, scored for the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.
Composer Bear McCreary, whose credits included the television series Outlander and The Walking Dead, called Smythe's death "awful and surreal" in an Instagram post, saying the pair had been chatting at a party just weeks before.
"I’m shaken to hear of the shocking and untimely passing of Mark Smythe, a prominent figure in the Los Angeles film scoring community, particularly with the Society of Composers and Lyricists, and a talented composer in his own right.
"Mark’s enthusiasm and humour were off the charts."
He added: "I always figured I’d get to know him better one day. His passing is a stark reminder to spend time with the people you care about while you can."
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