Mort Lindsey (born Morton Lippman; March 21, 1923 – May 4, 2012) was an

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

, composer, pianist, conductor and

musical director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

for

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...

Jack Narz John Lawrence Narz Jr. (November 13, 1922 – October 15, 2008) was an American radio personality, television host, and singer. Early years Narz was born to John and Ado Narz, in Louisville, Kentucky, of Lithuanian descent, along with sister ...

, and

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...

Early life

Mort Lippman was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

on March 21, 1923. He attended

Newark Arts High School Newark Arts High School is a four-year magnet public high school, serving students in Ninth through twelfth grades in Newark, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Newark Public Schools. The school is lo ...

. He served stateside as a lieutenant in the

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and received a bachelor's degree from Columbia College and a master's from Columbia University in the 1940s. He later returned to

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, earning a doctoral degree in music education in 1974.

Career

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Lindsey was part of a trio called the Playboys with jazz guitarist

Johnny Smith Johnny Henry Smith II (June 25, 1922 – June 11, 2013) was an American cool jazz and mainstream jazz guitarist. He wrote " Walk, Don't Run" in 1954. In 1984, Smith was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Early life During the Great ...

and organist Arlo Hults at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. In 1956, he was credited with composing the song "Rock 'N' Roll Polka" as recorded by

John Serry Sr. John Serry Sr. (born John Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voice ...

(See '' Squeeze Play''). Lindsey was the musical director and conductor for

's 1961 tour, including her concert on April 23, 1961, at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. Lindsey was also a composer of motion picture scores including '' Gay Purr-ee'' (1962), ''

40 Pounds of Trouble ''40 Pounds of Trouble'' is a 1962 comedy film directed by Norman Jewison and starring Tony Curtis, Suzanne Pleshette, Larry Storch and Phil Silvers. It is a retelling of Damon Runyon's 1932 short story '' Little Miss Marker''. Plot Casino man ...

'' (1962), '' I Could Go On Singing'' (1963), '' Stolen Hours'' (1963), '' The Best Man'' (1964), ''

Real Life Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the Character (arts), characters they portray. It has become a ...

'' (1979) and ''

Cats Don't Dance ''Cats Don't Dance'' is a 1997 American animated musical comedy film directed by Mark Dindal. The film features the voices of Scott Bakula, Jasmine Guy, Matthew Herried, Ashley Peldon, John Rhys-Davies, Kathy Najimy, Don Knotts, Hal Holbrook, ...

'' (1997) for which he composed the song "Tell Me Lies". Lindsey served as musical director and bandleader of ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series had runs on two different networks on NBC (1962–1963) and CBS (1969–1972) but is most known for its run on first-run syndication from 1965 to 1 ...

'' from 1965 to 1986 and composed one of the show's themes. In addition, he and Griffin composed the song "Changing Keys", which served as the theme to Griffin's game show '' Wheel of Fortune'' in several versions from 1983 until 2000. In 1969, Lindsey 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 ...

for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music as musical director for ''Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park'' a concert attended by 135,000 people that aired as a music special on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

in 1968.

Family

In 1944, Lindsey married Betty Szold. They later divorced. In 1954, he married Betty (Bonney) Broyles who went by the stage name

Judy Johnson William Julius "Judy" Johnson (October 26, 1899 – June 15, 1989) was an American professional baseball third baseman, shortstop, Manager (baseball), manager and Scout (baseball), scout whose career in Negro league baseball spanned 17 season ...

while touring with the Les Brown Orchestra. He had three sons, David Lippman, Steve Lindsey, and Trevor Lindsey; and three daughters, Deborah Morris, Judy Grant, and Bonney Dunn. Mort Lindsey died at his home in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

on May 4, 2012.

References

External links

* *
ASCAP entry

Finding aid to the Mort Lindsey Scores at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
1923 births 2012 deaths Musicians from Newark, New Jersey Newark Arts High School alumni American film score composers Jubilee Records artists Primetime Emmy Award winners Burials at Valley Oaks Memorial Park Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni American male film score composers {{US-composer-20thC-stub