Richard Allen Markowitz (September 3, 1926 in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, California – December 6, 1994 in Santa Monica, California) was an American film and television composer. He was the father of singer

Kate Markowitz Catherine Judith "Kate" Markowitz (Born 28 April 1956) is an American singer-songwriter known as a backup singer who has recorded and performed with a number of singers, most notably James Taylor but also Willy DeVille, Shawn Colvin, Mylène Farm ...

Biography

As a

Santa Monica High School Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to SaMoHi, is located in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Boulevard. It is a part o ...

student, Markowitz led a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

called Dick Allen and the Teenagers under the name Dick Allen. Following his graduation in 1943 he performed military service in World War II. After the war, Markowitz studied music in Paris and under

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably '' Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 ...

and

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

. While in Paris he played in jazz clubs and met his wife

Haru Yanai Haru is a Japanese word that means "spring (season)". Haru is also a Korean word that means "day" in Korean. Haru may also refer to: *Haru (woreda), a woreda (district) in Ethiopia *Haru (given name), a unisex Japanese given name *Haru (actress) ...

.p. 44 Bessman, Jim ''Markowitz Maps Solo Career with Dad as Inspiration'' ''Billboard'' 27 March 2004 Markowitz began film composing with the 1958 film '' Stakeout on Dope Street'' for director

Irvin Kershner Irvin Kershner (born Isadore Kershner; April 29, 1923November 27, 2010) was an American film director, actor, and producer of film and television. He gained notice early in his career as a filmmaker for directing quirky, independent drama films ...

. He collaborated again with Kernsher on the films ''

The Young Captives ''The Young Captives'' is a 1959 film directed by Irvin Kershner and starring Steven Marlo, Luana Patten Luana Patten (July 6, 1938 – May 1, 1996) was an American actress who appeared in films produced by Walt Disney Pictures, such as '' ...

'', (1959), '' Hoodlum Priest'' (1961), and '' Face in the Rain'' (1963). He collaborated with his wife on the score of the film ''

Roadracers Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on p ...

'' (1959) where Haru wrote lyrics to the songs. His other film scores included '' One Man's Way'' (1963), '' Bus Riley's Back in Town'' (1965), '' Wild Seed'' (1965), '' Ride Beyond Vengeance'' (1966), '' The Shooting'' (1966), which starred

Warren Oates Warren Mercer Oates (July 5, 1928 – April 3, 1982) was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah, including '' The Wild Bunch'' (1969) and '' Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'' (1974) ...

and

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

, ''

Cry for Me, Billy ''Cry for Me, Billy'' (also known as ''Count Your Bullets'') is a 1972 American Western film directed by William A. Graham and starring Cliff Potts and Maria Potts. It was one of the first films from Brut Productions.Following the Scent to Br ...

'' (1972), and ''

Circle of Power ''Circle of Power'', also known as ''Mystique'', ''Brainwash'' and ''The Naked Weekend'', is a 1981 film, co-produced by Gary Mehlman, Anthony Quinn and Jeffrey White, and based on the non-fiction book '' The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled''. It ...

'' (1981). In 1961 he composed the score for Bert I. Gordon's '' The Magic Sword'' and began his television career composing the theme song and background music to '' The Rebel'' where the theme song was sung by

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American Country music, country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later s ...

. He again scored a well known Western TV series when he replaced

Dimitri Tiomkin Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (, ; May 10, 1894 – November 11, 1979) was a Russian-born American film composer and conductor. Classically trained in St. Petersburg, Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution, he moved to Berlin and then New York City ...

in conducting the theme and background music to ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels ...

''. Keeping with the Western genre he scored the television movie (

Scalplock ''Iron Horse'' is an American Western television series that appeared on ABC from 1966 to 1968 and starred Dale Robertson as fictional gambler-turned-railroad baron Ben Calhoun. Costars included Gary Collins, Robert Random and Ellen Burstyn (w ...

) that spawned the series '' The Iron Horse'' as well as providing music for a variety of American television series and

made for TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

s such as ''

Weekend of Terror ''Weekend of Terror'' is a 1970 American made-for-television thriller film directed by Jud Taylor and starring Robert Conrad, Carol Lynley, Lois Nettleton and Jane Wyatt. It was aired on December 8, 1970 in the ''ABC Movie of the Week'' space. P ...

'' (1970), '' The Hanged Man'' (1974), '' Brinks: The Great Robbery'' (1976), ''

Mayday at 40,000 Feet! ''Mayday at 40,000 Feet!'' (aka ''Panic in the Open Sky'' and ''Mayday: 40,000 ft!'') is a 1976 American made-for-television drama film, directed by Robert Butler. The film stars David Janssen, Don Meredith and Christopher George, along wit ...

'' (1976) and '' Death Car on the Freeway'' (1979).

Television series scored by Markowitz

* ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invas ...

'' *'' Bus Riley's Back in Town'' *'' The FBI'' *''

'' *'' Mission: Impossible'' *''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS. It was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller. The title character, Joe Mannix, is a private in ...

'' *'' Quincy, M.E.'' *'' Police Story'' *'' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' *''

Columbo ''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...

'' *''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'' ( 2 episodes 1986 )

Television

"Episode(s)" denotes the listing may be incomplete.

References

External links

*
In Memoriam Richard Markowitz (1926–1994)
American film score composers 1926 births 1994 deaths Musicians from Santa Monica, California 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American composers American male film score composers 20th-century American male musicians American military personnel of World War II {{US-composer-20thC-stub