Duke Ellington won the first Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for a Motion Picture in 1960.
His winning work was the score for Anatomy of a Murder, Otto Preminger’s 1959 courtroom drama. Ellington composed the music with Billy Strayhorn, and the soundtrack became notable for bringing jazz composition into a major Hollywood film in a particularly prominent way.
The Grammy category has changed names and eligibility rules over time. It has generally honored the composer or composers responsible for a film’s original score, rather than the performers of songs appearing in the movie. This makes it different from soundtrack-album categories, which can recognize collections of songs by multiple artists.