Irving Szathmary, born Isadore Szathmary (October 30, 1907 – October 29, 1983) in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

, and died in

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, on the eve of his 76th birthday, was an American musical composer and arranger most known for scoring the ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the Spy fiction, secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Bu ...

'' television series.

Biography

One of six children of Hungarian ancestry, his youngest brother was comedian

Bill Dana William Szathmary (October 5, 1924 June 15, 2017), known as Bill Dana, was an American comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He often appeared on television shows such as The Steve Allen Show, frequently in the guise of a heavily accented Bolivian ...

. Szathmary was a child prodigy pianist from the age of five. Before graduating from Quincy High School in 1925, he adopted the name "Irving".Burlingame, Jon ''Get Szathmary! Irving Szathmary, Get Smart's Forgotten Composer'' Film Music Society July 21, 2008 At the same time he formed a band with his brother Albert, the Szathmary Symphonic Syncopaters. Al Szathmary (26 April 1906 – 9 June 1975) later had a career as an actor and was a

stand-in A stand-in, sometimes a lighting double, for film and television is a person who substitutes for the actor before filming, for technical purposes such as lighting and camera setup. Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of film and tele ...

on ''Get Smart''. Another brother was Arthur (1916–2013) who was a member of the Philosophy Department at Princeton University 1947–1986. Another brother, Sidney played violin in the

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is a major American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra was founded in 1930 and is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown ...

from 1945 to 1978 The family had one sister, Fannie (23 July 1919 – 8 January 2010) who was an associate law librarian at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Musical career

Szathmary began arranging for a variety of orchestras, including

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

in 1934, Emery Deutsch in 1935,

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

in 1936, and

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from 1936 to 1977 and from 1937,

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until joining

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in 1940. During World War II he transcribed many orchestral pieces on V-Disc for American servicemen and began recording arrangements for featured singers such as

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and

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. He composed a hit song, "Leave It To Love", in 1948. He composed the music for a 1950 United Nations radio program about drug addiction called ''The Shooting Gallery'' that was narrated by

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. Later in the 1950s he arranged music for ''

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'' and ''

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''. When his comedian brother Bill arrived in New York in the early 1950s, performing

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

under his birth name Szathmary, Irving admonished him with "Don't you know that I have a reputation in music?" that led Bill to adopt the surname "Dana" after their mother "Dena". Irving sometimes used the names Szath-Myri and ''Irving Zathmary''. In 1959 Irving headed Citation Records.

Television work

Bill Dana introduced his brother to comedy writer and television producer Leonard Stern to compose the music for Stern's television show ''

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''. Stern suggested something like the Laurel and Hardy theme. Szathmary returned a day or two later with a theme. "I sensed there was something unique about it," says Stern, but Szathmary decided to prepare a more elaborate demonstration. Another day or two later, he returned with a bass player, drummer, saxophonist and even a vocalist with Irving playing piano. "Finally I started to hear the distinctive melody," says Stern. "So I hired him, and he made the arrangements and conducted the orchestra as well."Burlingame Szathmary also composed the music for an unsuccessful Stern 1963

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

''Duncan Be Careful'' and composed the background music for his brother's '' The Bill Dana Show''. His collaboration with Stern led him to compose the theme and score all the episodes of ''Get Smart''. He retired to Malta when the series left the air.

Notes

References

* Burlingame, Jon
''Get Szathmary! Irving Szathmary, Get Smart's Forgotten Composer''
Film Music Society, July 21, 2008

External links

* * Discography http://www.discogs.com/artist/775454-Irving-Szathmary * http://www.discogs.com/artist/4120539-Szath-Myri-And-His-Orchestra {{DEFAULTSORT:Szathmary, Irving 1907 births 1983 deaths American male conductors (music) American television composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) American male composers People from Quincy, Massachusetts American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Jewish American television composers American male television composers Classical musicians from Massachusetts 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Jews