Died On This Date (May 26, 2008) Earle Hagen / TV Theme Composer
themusicsover Earle Hagen
July 9, 1919 – May 26, 2008
Earle Hagen, was the Emmy Award-winning television composer who could count the iconic theme to The Andy Griffith Show as his own. A talented musician himself, Hagen left home at the young age of 16 to play the trombone with Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman. In the ’40s he went to work for the studios composing theme music for films and television. Some of his more popular included Make Room For Daddy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and That Girl. Earle Hagen died of natural causes on May 26, 2008.