Lyn Murray (born Lionel Breeze, August 13, 1909 – May 20, 1989) was a composer, conductor, and arranger of music for radio, film and television.

Early years

Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Murray was the son of a violinist. Before entering a career in music, Murray was a seaman. He followed that nautical occupation with a stint as a reporter with the Philadelphia Public Ledger. He also attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

Radio

Murray's initial involvement with radio came in Newport News, Virginia. From 1931 to 1937, he was staff conductor and arranger at WCAU in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From there, he went to CBS, where he conducted, arranged, and composed music from 1934 to 1947. He later founded the Lyn Murray Singers, who became known throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as the featured group on CBS Radio's '' Your Hit Parade''. In the early 1940s, Murray, his orchestra and chorus were featured on ''Meet the Music'', "a Sunday evening feature paying weekly tribute to the modern song writers." Beginning in 1943, he led a 20-piece orchestra and 12-member singing group on ''To Your Good Health'', broadcast three times a week on CBS radio. His other work in radio included composing for '' The Adventures of Ellery Queen'' and being choral director for ''Pursuit of Happiness''. He was also music conductor for ''Radio Reader's Digest''.

Television

Murray worked as a conductor, arranger and producer with such artists as

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

and

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American Folk music, folk singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his o ...

at CBS prior to moving to NBC in 1947. The Lyn Murray Singers appeared on Broadway in '' Finian's Rainbow'' (1948), singing arrangements written by Murray for the production. He composed the incidental music for 35 episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour between 1962 and 1965 and for 46 episodes of Dragnet 1967 between 1967 and 1969.

Film

In 1950, Murray moved to Hollywood and provided vocal arrangements for Walt Disney's 1950 film ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' and began composing scores for feature films, including '' The Prowler'' (1951), '' To Catch a Thief'' (1955), '' D-Day the Sixth of June'' (1956), '' Escape from Zahrain'' (1962), '' Come Fly with Me'' (1963), '' Wives and Lovers'' (1963), ''

Promise Her Anything ''Promise Her Anything'' is a 1965 romantic comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Warren Beatty and Leslie Caron. The screenplay by William Peter Blatty is based on a story by Arne Sultan and Marvin Worth. The supporting cast fea ...

'' (1965), ''

Rosie! ''Rosie!'' is a 1967 American comedy film directed by David Lowell Rich, based on Ruth Gordon's play ''A Very Rich Woman''. Plot Rosie Lord is a widowed millionaire who, much to the dismay of her daughters Mildred and Edith, spends her money g ...

'' (1967), '' Strategy of Terror'' (1969), '' The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County'' (1970) and '' Love Hate Love'' (1971), as well as creating episodic underscoring for television shows such as '' The Virginian'' (1962), ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

'' (1964), ''

The Time Tunnel ''The Time Tunnel'' is an American color science-fiction television series written around a theme of time travel adventure; it starred James Darren and Robert Colbert. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science-fiction televisi ...

'' (1966), '' Dragnet'' (1967), and the unaired pilot for '' Mr. Terrific''.

Stage

Arranging choral music for ''This Is the Army'' was Murray's first Broadway experience. He went on to do vocal arrangements for ''Swingin' the Dream'' (1939), '' Panama Hattie'' (1940–1942), '' Let's Face It!'' (1941–1943), and '' Finian's Rainbow'' (1947–1948; 2009–2010).

Recognition

Murray won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in 1986 for his score to the National Geographic special ''Miraculous Machines''.

Family

Murray was married for a time to Carol Irwin in 1940, then to Tina Gray in 1950, and then to fashion historian Margaret Pexton but they divorced in 1982.

Death

Murray lived for many years in

Pacific Palisades, California Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside Los Angeles, Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of downtown Los Angeles. Throughout January 2025, the majority of Pacific Palisades was severely affec ...

, and died of cancer at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

in Los Angeles, aged 79.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Lyn 1909 births 1989 deaths English film score composers English male film score composers American film score composers American male film score composers English television composers American television composers English emigrants to the United States Deaths from cancer in California Musicians from London Musicians from Greater Los Angeles Primetime Emmy Award winners 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century American male musicians