Derek Thomas Scott (25 December 1921 – 27 May 2006) was a British film, television and stage musical director, film and television composer and musician. He started his career as a

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases f ...

with both

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...

and

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

before becoming a composer for film and television and "one of Britain's best known

light entertainment Light entertainment encompasses a broad range of television and radio programming that includes comedies, variety shows, game shows, quiz shows and the like. In Great Britain In the early days of the BBC virtually all broadcast entertainment wou ...

musical directors." Scott is best known for being the music director for ITV's ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

'' (1976–81) composing many of ''The Muppet Show'' songs and being the sound of the piano playing dog

Rowlf Rowlf the Dog is a Muppet character, a scruffy brown dog of indeterminate breed with a rounded black nose and long floppy ears. He was created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Rowlf is the Muppet Theatre's resident pianist on ''The Muppet ...

Early life

Scott was born in Biggleswade on 25 December 1921 and educated at Bedford Modern School. He showed precocious musical talent becoming a member of the Royal College of Organists at the age of 15. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Scott served in the RAF. As a member of

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, he toured Europe and North Africa with a scattering of aspiring comedians including Peter Sellers and

Career

After the war, "Scott accompanied the comedian Sid Field in Piccadilly Hayride ( Prince of Wales Theatre 1946) and worked as a

stooge A stooge or stooges may refer to: * Straight man (stock character), a comedian who feeds lines to another * Shill, a confederate or performer who acts as if they're a spectator * ''The Stooge'', a 1952 American film * The Three Stooges, a comedy g ...

with

." Scott was then known "for his poise and deadpan humour", according to his obituary in ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

''. In July 1948, he formed a short-lived double act with Tony Hancock in a show billed as ''Hank and Scott'' which appeared at the Windmill Theatre.

Harry Worth Harry Bourlon Illingsworth (20 November 1917 – 20 July 1989), professionally known as Harry Worth, was an English comedy actor, comedian and ventriloquist. Worth portrayed a charming, gentle and genial character, totally bemused by life, ...

and

Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working i ...

appeared on the same show but the latter were deemed "unfunny" at the time. Hank and Scott made their only TV appearance in ''New To You'' (1948). Scott would later compose the music for ''

The Punch and Judy Man ''The Punch and Judy Man'' is a 1963 black and white British comedy film made by Elstree Studios directed by Jeremy Summers from a script by Philip Oakes and Tony Hancock for the Associated British Picture Corporation. It was Hancock's second a ...

'', and the music for '' Hancock'', the comedian's series for

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television stations and companies * Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne * ATV (Austria) * AT ...

broadcast in 1963. Scott directed two Royal Variety Shows and was music director for West End shows such as '' Kiss Me, Kate'', '' Kismet'' and ''

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''. He worked in television for ATV at their Elstree Studios where he was musical associate for light entertainment specials working with such stars as

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

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, Benny Hill and Charlie Drake. He composed for television shows including ''

Market in Honey Lane ''Market in Honey Lane'' was an ATV British television weekly series, which switched to a twice weekly soap opera format (shown at varying times around the ITV regions) after the first year. It was broadcast between April 1967 and March 1969. ...

'' (1967), '' The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine'' (1971) and the police drama ''Hunter's Walk'' (1973). He also wrote the music for

Captain Birdseye Captain Birdseye, also known as Captain Iglo, is the advertising mascot for the Birds Eye (known as Iglo in parts of Europe) frozen food brand founded by Clarence Birdseye. Appearing in numerous television and billboard commercials, he has been pla ...

commercials. Scott was a contributor to a television documentary about Tony Hancock, ''Unknown Hancock'' in 2005.

Personal life

In 1957, Scott married Gillian Veronica Matheson Bain, known as Sidi, a dancer, the daughter of a Bristol doctor and a dance teacher. She worked with the stars, and was herself a star of Suffolk
(obituary) dated 20 January 2019 in ''East Anglian Daily Times'' at eadt.co.uk They had two daughters, Nikki and Emma. Scott retired in 1982 and lived at Southwold, Suffolk, serving as organist at St Edmund's Church, a continuation of a tradition he had started as a schoolboy. His widow died in November 2018.

TV and filmography

* 1948 ''New to You'' (TV; musician & performer with Tony Hancock) * 1957–1960 ''Spectacular'' (TV series; musical associate – 2 episodes) * 1957 ''

No Road Back ''No Road Back'' is a 1957 British crime film directed by Montgomery Tully.''No Road Back''
at the

'' (music: "Society Rumba", "Club Society", "Minor Murder" – uncredited) * 1961 '' Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' (TV series; musical associate – 1 episode) * 1963 '' Hancock'' (ATV series; musical director/composer) * 1963 ''

'' (composer) * 1966 ''ITV Play of the Week'' (TV series; composer – 1 episode) * 1966 ''Topo Gigio Comes to Town'' (TV; composer) * 1967 '' ITV Play of the Week'' (TV series, musical director – 1 episode) * 1967 '' Armchair Theatre (TV Series)'' (TV series, musician – 2 episodes; composer, 1 episode) * 1967 '' The Benny Hill Show'' (TV series; musical associate) * 1967 ''Spotlight'' (TV series, musical associate – 1 episode) * 1967 ''

'' * 1969 ''ITV Sunday Night Theatre'' (TV series; music director – 2 episodes, 1969,music supervisor – 1 episode, 1969) * 1969 ''The Peapicker in Piccadilly'' (TV; musical associate) * 1969-1970 ''The Worker'' (TV series; musical director - 5 episodes) * 1970 '' Carol Channing's Mad English Tea Party'' (TV; music associate) * 1970 ''

The Engelbert Humperdinck Show Arnold George Dorsey (born 2 May 1936), known professionally as Engelbert Humperdinck, is an English Pop music, pop singer who has been described as "one of the finest Middle of the road (music), middle-of-the-road sentimental ballad, balladeers ...

'' (TV series; music associate – 16 episodes) * 1970 ''It's the Only Way to Go'' (Short; composer) * 1970–1973 ''Crime of Passion'' (TV series, 32 episodes; composer) * 1972 '' The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine'' (TV, 1 episode; composer) * 1972 ''

Spyder's Web ''Spyder's Web'' was a British crime drama television series produced by ATV for ITV and broadcast in 1972. It starred Anthony Ainley as Clive Hawksworth and Patricia Cutts as Charlotte "Lottie" Dean as two secret agents working for the mysteriou ...

'' (TV, 13 episodes; composer) * 1972–1978 ''General Hospital'' (UK TV series; composer – 113 episodes) * 1973 ''Hunter's Walk'' (TV Series; composer) * 1976–1981 ''

'' (TV series; musical associate/composer/conductor) * 1977 ''Marti'' (TV series; music associate – 1 episode) * 1977 '' The Tony Hatch Music Show'' (TV special; music associate) * 1978 '' Dawn of the Dead'' (composer: stock library music – uncredited, writer: "Fugarock", "Zap", Scarey 1", "Scarey 2", (Mall Montage Scene) – uncredited) (from 'Sounds Unusual' by Derek Scott ( Music De Wolfe) (1975) * 1978 ''Tony Hatch & All Kinds of Music'' (TV special; music associate) * 1978 ''Parables'' (TV series, 1 episode; composer) * 1981 ''Starburst (TV Series), Starburst'' (music associate – 1 episode) * 1996 ''The Muppet CDROM: Muppets Inside'' (Video Game; musician: Animal's drum solo) * 2005 ''Unknown Hancock'' (TV Movie documentary)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Derek Thomas 1921 births 2006 deaths Musical theatre directors British film score composers British musical theatre composers British pianists People educated at Bedford Modern School