Morton Stevens (January 30, 1929 – November 11, 1991) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

composer. In 1965, he became director of music for

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 ...

West Coast operations. He is probably best known for composing the theme music for ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'', a

television series for which he won two

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 ...

s in 1970 and 1974, and was a gold record for

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...

. Stevens was taught by

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning composer

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was consid ...

, with whom he frequently collaborated on other projects.

Biography

Stevens graduated from 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 ...

in 1950, and within a few years began working as an arranger/conductor for

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...

After Davis's longtime conductor, George Rhodes, died in 1985, Stevens was among those who filled that role again sporadically until Davis' death in 1990. In his later years, Stevens worked as conductor for other Vegas legends, including

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...

, and was musical director for the "

Rat Pack The Rat Pack was an informal group of singers that, in its second iteration, ultimately made films and appeared together in Las Vegas casino venues. They originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a group of A-list show business friends, s ...

" tour featuring Davis, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and—after Martin quit—

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...

. His classic theme for ''

'' was later re-recorded for the remake of the television series in 2010. He won two

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score). Starting in 2019, the category recognizes scripted programs. Unscripted programs compete for Music Comp ...

for his work on ''Hawaii Five-O'' and was nominated seven other times for work on television programs, including the 1969 ''Hawaii Five-O'' pilot episode, ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'' and '' Police Woman''. His film work included scores for films and TV movies such as ''

Wild and Wonderful Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildlife, an undomesticated organism * Wildness Wildness, in its literal sense, is the quality of being Wildlife, wild or Domestication, u ...

'' (1964), ''

The Spy with My Face ''The Spy with My Face'' is a 1965 spy-fi spy film based on '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' television series. Robert Vaughn and David McCallum reprised their roles as secret agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin respectively. THRUSH tries to st ...

'' (1965), '' Deadly Harvest'' (1972), ''

The Strangers in 7A ''The Strangers in 7A'' is a 1972 American made-for-television thriller drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The dra ...

'' (1972), ''

The Horror at 37,000 Feet ''The Horror at 37,000 Feet'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror television film directed by David Lowell Rich. The film stars Chuck Connors, Buddy Ebsen, Tammy Grimes, William Shatner, and Paul Winfield. It centers on hapless passengers and ...

'' (1973), ''

The Disappearance of Flight 412 ''The Disappearance of Flight 412'' is a 1974 American made-for-television science fiction drama film starring Glenn Ford, Bradford Dillman, David Soul and Guy Stockwell. The film was shown as an NBC World Premiere Movie in 1974. Plot U.S. Air Fo ...

'' (1974), '' Code Name: Diamond Head'' (1977), ''

Wheels A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axl ...

'' (1978), ''

The One Man Jury ''The One Man Jury'' (released as ''The Loner'' on UK video) is a 1978 American neo-noir film directed by Charles Martin (1910-1983) and starring Jack Palance, Christopher Mitchum, Pamela Shoop, and Cara Williams. Plot Jim Wade ( Jack Palance ...

'' (1978), ''Women in White'' (1979), ''

Great White Great White is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band is named after both the shark with the same name, and guitarist Mark Kendall's former stage nickname. In August 2008, Great White estimated they had sold aroun ...

'' (1982) ''

They Still Call Me Bruce ''They Still Call Me Bruce'' is a 1987 American action comedy film directed by James Orr (filmmaker), James Orr and Johnny Yune and starring the latter. It is a sequel to the 1982 film ''They Call Me Bruce?'' Plot The film begins with Bruce i ...

'' (1987), ''

Act of Piracy ''Act of Piracy'' is a 1988 American–South African thriller film directed by John "Bud" Cardos and starring Gary Busey, Belinda Bauer, Ray Sharkey and Nancy Mulford. Busey and Bauer play a separated couple who must reunite to free their chi ...

'' (1988) and the

films ''

Hardly Working ''Hardly Working'' is a 1980 American comedy film directed by, co-written by and starring Jerry Lewis and Susan Oliver, filmed in 1979, released in Europe in 1980 and then in the United States on April 3, 1981 through 20th Century Fox. This fil ...

'' (1980), ''

Slapstick of Another Kind ''Slapstick of Another Kind'' is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film starring Jerry Lewis, Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman. It was filmed in 1982, and released in March 1984 by both The S. Paul Company/Serendipity Entertainment Releasing ...

'' (1982) and '' Cracking Up'' (1983). In addition to "

", Stevens worked on the earlier smash 1960s CBS Television series dealing with an island of a different kind: "

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

", 1964–1967, collaborating on the series with

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

Gerald Fried Gerald Fried (February 13, 1928 – February 17, 2023) was an American composer, conductor, and oboist known for his film and television scores. He composed music for well-known television series of the 1960s and 1970s, including ''Mission: Imp ...

Frank Comstock Frank G. Comstock (September 20, 1922 – May 21, 2013) was an American composer, arranger, conductor, and trombonist. For television, Comstock wrote and arranged music for major situation comedies and variety shows. His theme and incidental mu ...

, and

Lyn Murray 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, Murray was the son of a violinist. Before entering a career in music ...

. A musical cue by Stevens from ''Hawaii Five-O'' was adapted into the introductory music used to accompany the logo for CBS specials from 1973 to 1991. Stevens also composed "So Old, So Young", used as the theme music (in two separate arrangements) for CBS'

primetime Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

(from 1966 to 1978) and late night (from 1972 to 1985) movie broadcasts. Stevens died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

in Encino, California at the age of 62.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Morton 1929 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American classical musicians 20th-century American male musicians American film score composers 20th-century American Jews American television composers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series) Juilliard School alumni American male film score composers American male television composers Musicians from Newark, New Jersey