Albert Elms (28 February 1920 – 14 October 2009) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

composer and arranger who worked mainly for television and film. Albert Elms was born in Newington,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England, and died in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. His love of music drove him to join the Royal Marine Band Service in Deal at the age of 14 in 1934. His wartime service included participation in the Vaagso raid in 1940 and serving on the Malta Convoys in 1941–42. After Albert left the Royal Marines he joined Francis, Day and Hunter, a music publishing company as an arranger. His break into television came with the launch of commercial television in Britain during 1955. He was amongst a number of young British composers who made significant contributions to the early days of commercial television in series like

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's ''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Technicolor swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia d ...

'' (1955–59) with

Richard Greene Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series ' ...

in the lead, in which he wrote then musical scores for at least the last two series. He also wrote musical scores for '' The Buccaneers'' (1956–57), starring Robert Shaw, ''

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot ''The Adventures of Sir Lancelot'' is a British television series first broadcast in 1956, produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and screened on the ITV network. The series starred William Russell as the eponymous Sir Lancelot, a ...

'' (1956–57), starring William Russell, and '' Ivanhoe'' (1958–59) with Roger Moore. However, he is best known for providing the incidental music for the later ITC series A ''

Man in a Suitcase ''Man in a Suitcase'' is a British television private eye thriller series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It originally aired in the United Kingdom on ITV from 27 September 1967 to 17 April 1968. ABC broadcast episodes of ''Man in ...

'' (1967–68), ''

The Champions ''The Champions'' is a British espionage thriller/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure television series. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company, and consists of 30 episodes broadcast in the UK on IT ...

'' (1968-69) and for 14 of the 17 episodes of ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...

'' (1967–68) starring Patrick McGoohan. Although the series on which Albert did most of his important work had memorable main title scores by others like

Ron Grainer Ronald Erle Grainer (11 August 1922 – 21 February 1981) was an Australian composer who worked for most of his professional career in the United Kingdom. He is mostly remembered for his television and film score music, especially the theme mus ...

and

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mus ...

, he provided cues which represent hundreds of hours of music. His contribution has recently been recognised with the release on CD of his incidental music for ''Man in a Suitcase.'' He also wrote complete film scores for movies such as ''

Satellite in the Sky ''Satellite in the Sky'' is a 1956 British CinemaScope science fiction film in Warner Color, produced by Edward J. Danziger and Harry Lee Danziger, directed by Paul Dickson, and starring Kieron Moore, Lois Maxwell, Donald Wolfit, and Bryan Forb ...

'' (1956), '' The Man Without a Body'' (1957), ''

On the Run On the Run may refer to: * "On the run", a phrase often used to describe a fugitive, a person fleeing custody Literature * ''On the Run'' (novel), by Nina Bawden * On the Run (novel series), by Gordon Korman * ''On the Run'', a novel in the S ...

'' (1958), '' Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons'' (1960), '' The Breaking Point'' (1961), ''

The Omegans ''The Omegans'' is a 1968 American science fiction film, science fiction thriller film directed by W. Lee Wilder and starring Keith Larsen, Ingrid Pitt and Lucien Pan. It was shot location shooting, on location in the Philippines.Mayer p. 49 Cast ...

'' (1968), and the film version of ''

Love Thy Neighbour Love Thy Neighbor or Love Thy Neighbour refers to the Biblical phrase "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" from the Book of Leviticus 19:18 in the Old Testament about the ethic of reciprocity known as the Golden Rule or the Great Commandment. ...

'' (1973). He was also musical director on the '' Dave Allen Show'' and ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody ...

'' for three episodes of the 1973–74 season, substituting for

Ronnie Aldrich Ronald Frank Aldrich (15 February 1916 – 30 September 1993) was a British easy listening and jazz pianist, arranger, conductor and composer. Early life He was born Ronald Frank Aldrich on 15 February 1916 in Erith, England, the only son o ...

. He wrote extensively for military band which included the Corps quick march, ''On Parade'', for The Royal Logistic Corps which formed in 1993. He was commissioned to compose the grand finale for the Royal Tournament in 1974, and his work the Battle of Trafalgar was a sensational success. It subsequently included commentary by Richard Baker and was a popular concert inclusion. He was asked to arrange it for full orchestra and it was performed in 1983 at the ‘Celebration of Maritime England’ in St Paul's Cathedral and conducted by Sir Charles Groves. Elms lived for more than 40 years at the family home in the village of Oad Street near Borden, Sittingbourne in Kent, and had three sons, Martin, David, and Jeremy. His wife Doreen (known as Jo) predeceased him on 10 May 1990.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elms, Albert 1920 births 2009 deaths English film score composers English male film score composers English television composers English male composers People from Milton, Kent Royal Marines ranks Royal Marines personnel of World War II Musicians from Kent 20th-century British male musicians Military personnel from Kent