Earle Hagen: Difference between revisions

| image = Earle Hagen.jpeg

| caption = Earle Hagen in the 1960s

'''Earle Harry Hagen''' (July 9, 1919 – May 26, 2008) was an [[Americans|American]] [[composer]] who created music for [[film|movies]]films and [[television]]. His best-known TV themes include those for, ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'', ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'', ''[[That Girl]]'' and ''[[The Mod Squad]]''. He is also remembered for co-writingcomposing and whistling "[[The Fishin'Andy Hole",Griffith the melody ofShow Theme|the main theme to ''[[The Andy Griffith Show'']]''; writing the instrumental song "[[Harlem Nocturne]]" used as the theme tofor television's ''[[Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (1984 TV series)|Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer]]''; and co-writing the theme song to [[Tim Conway]]'s [[Western (genre)|Western]] comedy ''[[Rango (TV series)|Rango]]''.<ref name=WeberB-NYT-EH-Obit>Weber, Bruce (May 28, 2008). [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/arts/television/28hagen.html "Earle Hagen, Who Composed Noted TV Tunes, Dies at 88"]. Television: ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved: May 28, 2008.</ref><ref name=ZoglinR-Time>[[Richard Zoglin|Zoglin, Richard]] (March 3, 1986). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080531115254/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960794,00.html "Back to the Time Warp"]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. Retrieved: May 28, 2008.</ref>

Born in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], as a boy he moved with his family to [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], where he learned to play the [[trombone]] in junior high school, and graduated from [[Hollywood High School]]. At age 16, he left home to join traveling big bands, playing with [[Tommy Dorsey]], [[Benny Goodman]] and [[Ray Noble (musician)|Ray Noble]]. While working with Noble in 1939, he wrote "[[Harlem Nocturne]]" as a tribute to [[Duke Ellington]] and [[Johnny Hodges]].<ref name=WeberB-NYT-EH-Obit /><ref name=JablonR-AP-2008-05-27>Jablon, Robert. – [http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9394015?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com "Earle Hagen, 'Andy Griffith' composer, dies at 88"]. – [[Associated Press]]. – (c/o ''[[San Jose Mercury News]]''). – May 27, 2008. – Retrieved: May 28, 2008</ref> The piece was recorded by many artists, including [[Johnny Otis]], [[Randy Brooks (big band leader)|Randy Brooks]], [[Herbie Fields]], [[Sam Taylor (jazz)|Sam "The Man" Taylor]], [[Earl Bostic]], [[Charlie Barnet]], [[The Viscounts (US)|The Viscounts]], [[King Curtis]], [[Quincy Jones]], [[Les Elgart]], [[Larry Elgart]], [[Illinois Jacquet]], and [[David Sanborn]]. Later, in a version with [[Bud Shank]] on alto sax,<ref>[{{Cite web|url=https://thescl.com/articles/memoirs-of-a-famous-composer/|title=Memoirs Bruceof Babcocka (2009)Famous Composer|first=David|last=Das|date=October 29, Interview2009|website=The withSociety Earleof Hagen]Composers and Lyricists}}</ref> it was used as the theme for television's ''[[Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (1984 TV series)|Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer]]'', and ''The New Mike Hammer''.

Hagen had a Golden Palm Star on the [[Palm Springs Walk of Stars]] dedicated to him in 2003.<ref>[http{{Cite web|url=https://www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars%20by%20date/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf Palm Springs Walk of Stars: By Date Dedicated] {{webarchive|urlarchiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208224143/http://www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars%20by%20date/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf|url-status=dead|title=The Brightest Stars from New-York to Los Angeles|archive-date=December 8, 2012 |website=Palmspringswalkofstars.com}}</ref> He was inducted into the [[Television Academy Hall of Fame]] in 2011.

*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20020805060445/http://www.earlehagen.net/ ''The Best of All Worlds'']}} Fan Site with career reflections & highlights.