Henry Clay Warnick, Jr., also known as Buck Warnick, Clay Warnick, and H. Clay Warnick, (born, December 14, 1915,

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

— died February 8, 1995,

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.

) was an American

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 Defi ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

, conductor, and musical director. He had an active career on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

from 1942 through 1963, and was also a prolific composer of

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

s for advertisements on radio and television with the

Young and Rubicam VMLY&R is an American marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of VML, founded in 1992, and Young & Rubica ...

(Y & R) agency. From 1950 to 1954 he was the music director of the television program ''

Your Show of Shows ''Your Show of Shows'' is a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC from February 25, 1950, through June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Howar ...

''.

Life and career

Born Henry Clay Warnick, Jr. in

, Warnick was given the nickname "Buck" by his father as a baby because he would "buck" in his crib every time he heard music playing. His undergraduate education was from

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

where he was a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

and Delta Epsilon. After graduating in 1935, he pursued graduate studies at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in New York City where he was a pupil of

Tibor Serly Tibor Serly (; Losonc, Kingdom of Hungary, 25 November 1901 – London, 8 October 1978) was a Hungarian violist, violinist, and composer. Serly was the son of Lajos Serly, a pupil of Franz Liszt and a composer of songs and operettas in the ...

(composition and conducting). While a student at Juilliard he arranged music for his first Broadway show, the ''

Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 ''The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936'' is a musical revue with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by Vernon Duke and sketches by Gershwin and David Freedman. The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of revues presented from 1907 through 1931, 1934, 1936, 1943, a ...

''. He graduated from Juilliard in 1937. Warnick worked as a vocal arranger for many musicals on Broadway during the 1940s. These included '' Banjo Eyes'' (1941), ''

By Jupiter ''By Jupiter'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. The musical is based on the play ''The Warrior's Husband'' by Julian F. Thompson, set in the land of the Amazons. '' ...

'' (1942), '' Count Me In'' (1942), ''

Early to Bed Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

'' (1943), '' My Dear Public'' (1943), '' A Connecticut Yankee'' (1943), and ''

Jackpot Jackpot or Jackpot! may refer to: * A prize, such as a progressive jackpot * Gardena jackpots, a poker variant * Jackpot, Nevada, a community on the Nevada–Idaho state border Comics * Jackpot (comics), several comic book characters * ''Jack ...

'' (1944). He also contributed original material to the 1950 musical revue ''

Tickets, Please! ''Tickets, Please!'' is a musical revue. It contains sketches by Sketches by Harry Herrmann, Edmund Rice, Jack Roche and Ted Luce, with music and lyrics by Lyn Duddy, Joan Edwards, Mel Tolkin, Lucille Kallen and Clay Warnick. Incidental music i ...

''. In addition to his work on Broadway, he composed and arranged music for the ''

Ice Capades The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and United States Figure Skating Championships, US National Champion figure skating, figur ...

''. Warnick composed the music for the 1955 musical adaptation of the children's book ''

Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Used ...

'' which starred

Wally Cox Wallace Maynard Cox (December 6, 1924 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He began his career as a standup comedian and then became the title character of the popular early U.S. television series ''Mister Peepers'' from 1952 to 19 ...

and

Jeannie Carson Jeannie Carson (born Jean Shufflebottom; 23 May 1928) is a British-born retired comedian, actress, singer and dancer. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life Born to show business parents, Carson was born as Jean Shufflebott ...

and was broadcast on the ''

Max Liebman Spectaculars ''Max Liebman Presents'', aka ''Max Liebman Spectaculars'', is an American television anthology series, presented monthly in a 90-minute format. A total of 28 episodes aired every fourth Sunday (some Saturday) from September 12, 1954, to June 9, 19 ...

''. He co-composed the score for the 1956 television musical ''The Adventures of Marco Polo'' with Mel Pahl, which was broadcast nationally on

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

with stars

Doretta Morrow Doretta Morrow (January 27, 1927 – February 28, 1968) was an American actress, singer and dancer who appeared in stage and television productions during the 1940s and 1950s. She is best remembered for having created roles in the original pro ...

and

Alfred Drake Alfred Drake (October 7, 1914 – July 25, 1992) was an American actor and singer. Biography Born as Alfred Capurro in New York City, the son of parents emigrated from Recco, Genoa, Drake began his Broadway career while still a student at Broo ...

. He was musical director of ''

'' from 1950 through 1954. He also served as musical director or arranger for numerous television programs including '' Caesar's Hour'', ''

The United States Steel Hour ''The United States Steel Hour'' is an anthology series which brought hour long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the U.S. Steel, United States Steel Corpor ...

'', and ''

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year r ...

''. With Y & R, Warnick produced music for more than 10,000 spots on radio and television. Some of his more famous jingles include "The Dogs Kids Love to Bite" for Armour Hot Dogs. and "Should a gentleman offer a tiparillo to a lady?" for Tiparillo Cigars. The latter song won Warnick a Clio Award in 1974. His best known song is "Number One To The Sun" which he composed for

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

. That song was performed and recorded by the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

References

External links

Buck Warnick at IBDBClay Warnick at IMDB
1915 births 1995 deaths American composers American musical theatre composers Clio Award winners Musicians from Tacoma, Washington Juilliard School alumni {{authority control