Victor Mizzy
January 9, 1916 – October 17, 2009
Vic Mizzy is best remembered for the scores he wrote for television and film during the ’50s and ’60s. His credits include Green Acres and The Addams Family on TV, and the Don Knotts films, The Reluctant Astronaut and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Vic Mizzy, 93, passed away on October 17, 2009.
Cole Porter
June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964
Cole Porter was on of America’s most beloved composers and lyricists. His popular scores include Kiss Me Kate and Anything Goes while his iconic catalog of songs includes “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Night and Day,” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.” The greatest stars in the world have performed his songs on stage and screen. That list includes Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman, Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. Although he suffered many ailments through the latter part of his life, it was kidney failure that finally took his life at the age of 73.
Leonard Bernstein
August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990
Leonard Bernstein was one of the world’s most respected composers and one of the first American conductors to achieve worldwide acclaim. Born in Massachusetts, Bernstein took to music at an early age and began learning the piano. After graduating from high school, he attended Harvard where he became a member of the storied Harvard Glee Club. By November of 1943, Bernstein was conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra where he stayed until 1969. He was one of the first conductors to make numerous television appearances. In 1957, his most famous piece of work as a composer debuted on Broadway. It was West Side Story. Over the course of his career, he wrote many pieces including five musicals, three symphonies and two operas. On Christmas Day, 1989, Bernstein made history by conducting Beethoven’s Symphony #9 in East Berlin with an orchestra made up of musicians from both sides of the Berlin Wall. It was part of the celebration commemorating the fall of the Wall. With his health ailing in part due to years of heavy smoking, Bernstein made his final performance in August of 1990 and retired all together on October 9th of that same year. He died of pneumonia five days later.
Neal Hefti
October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008
Neal Hefti was a jazz musician and composer who is best remembered for writing the theme music for the Batman series and the Odd Couple movie and series. Prior to his career as a composer, he played the trumpet in Woody Herman’s band. He also arranged for Frank Sinatra, Buddy Rich and Count Basie. Neil Hefti passed away in his home at the age of 85.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the assist.
Nelson Riddle
June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985
Nelson Riddle was an orchestra bandleader who was hired by Capitol Records in 1950 to arrange for their stable of the era’s great vocalists. While at Capitol, Riddle worked with Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin and Keely Smith. During the ’60s and ’70s, Riddle worked primarily in film and television, arranging and scoring the Batman series, and such films as Ocean’s Eleven, Robin and the Seven Hoods, and The Great Gatsby, for which he won an academy award. During the ’80s, Riddle worked with Linda Ronstadt’s popular and critically acclaimed series of pop standard albums. His work as arranger, earned him two Grammys. Nelson Riddle died of liver ailments in 1985. He was 64 years old.
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