George Wyle (born Bernard Weissman; March 22, 1916 – May 2, 2003) was an American

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

leader and composer best known for having written the theme song to 1960s television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

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 thr ...

''. He is the grandfather of musician

Adam Levy Adam Levy is a jazz guitarist who was a member of Norah Jones's band. Career Levy was born in Encino, California. Two of his uncles and one cousin played guitar, and his mother briefly took lessons. His grandfather, George Wyle, worked for '' ...

Early years

Wyle was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. In the late 1940s and early 1950s his orchestra served as backup for a number of

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

singers, including

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

. Some of the recordings (including "

I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Pray'rs) "I Said My Pajamas (and Put On My Pray'rs)" is a popular song with music by George Wyle and lyrics by Edward Pola. It was published in 1949. The songs describes somebody who is in love, but whose descriptions about what she does are full of swi ...

" in 1949 and "

I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell "I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell" is a popular song. The music was written by George Wyle, the lyrics by Edward Pola. It was published in 1950. The recording by Doris Day was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 38818. It first r ...

" in 1950) were of his own compositions.

Career

Wyle wrote with

Sherwood Schwartz Sherwood Charles Schwartz (; November 14, 1916 – July 12, 2011) was an American television screenwriter and producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, but he now is best known for creating the 1960s television series '' Gilligan's Isla ...

''The Ballad of Gilligan's Island'', the theme song for ''Gilligan's Island''. He also co-wrote the Christmas song "

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a popular Christmas song written in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album, ''The Andy Williams Christm ...

" (first recorded by

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

in 1963) and more than 400 other songs. His chief musical collaborator was

Eddie Pola Edward Pola (June 23, 1907 – November 3, 1995)Passenger list, S.S. ''Transylvania'', port of New York, 20 August 1931. was an actor, radio/television producer, and songwriter. Pola was born Sidney Edward Pollacsek in New York City, the son of Ida ...

. Wyle served as the musical director for ''

The Flip Wilson Show ''The Flip Wilson Show'' is an hour-long variety show that originally aired in the US on NBC from September 17, 1970, to June 27, 1974. The show starred American comedian Flip Wilson; the program was one of the first American television programs ...

'' during the early 1970s and also served as music director and arranger for '' John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together''. He served on the Board of Directors of The

American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers The American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers is an organization whose mission is to promote the arts of Music Arranging, Composition and Orchestration within the entertainment industry community and the general public. The ASMAC was foun ...

(ASMAC) from 1979 to his death in 2003.

References

External links

*
George Wyle
at

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyle, George 1916 births 2003 deaths Deaths from leukemia Jewish American songwriters American male composers Songwriters from New York (state) Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews American male songwriters Burials at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery