Jacques "Jack" Urbont is a
composer. Urbont is best known for composing the
theme song
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...
s for ''
The Marvel Super Heroes
''The Marvel Super Heroes'' is an American animated television series starring five comic book superheroes from Marvel Comics. The first TV series based on Marvel characters, it debuted in broadcast syndication, syndication on United States, U.S. ...
'' cartoon series.
Career
Urbont composed the music for the
off-Broadway shows ''Livin' the Life'', ''All in Love'', and ''Stag Movie''. ''Livin' the Life'' premiered in 1957 and starred Francis Barnard and
Alice Ghostley
Alice Margaret Ghostley (August 14, 1923 – September 21, 2007) was a Tony Award-winning American actress and singer on stage, film and television. She was best known for her roles as bumbling witch Esmeralda (1969–70; 1972) on ''Bewitched'' ...
. ''All in Love'' premiered in 1961 and starred
David Atkinson and Gaylea Byrne. ''Stag Movie'' premiered in 1971 and starred
Hy Anzell and
Adrienne Barbeau
Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress, singer and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical '' Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter o ...
.
He wrote the original
theme songs
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at som ...
for the
Marvel
Marvel may refer to:
Business
* Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company
** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment
** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe
** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics
* ...
cartoons
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
when he met
Stan Lee, and though he didn’t yet know him, asked Lee for his
comics and in a week wrote the themes on
spec Spec may refer to:
*Specification (technical standard), an explicit set of requirements to be satisfied by a material, product, or service
**datasheet, or "spec sheet"
People
* Spec Harkness (1887-1952), American professional baseball pitcher
...
, hoping Lee would like them, and saying when he was done, Lee would wish he wrote them himself. Later, Lee admitted that he did in fact wish he wrote them.
Urbont composed or arranged the theme music for several daytime soap operas, including ''
General Hospital'', ''
One Life to Live'', ''
All My Children'', and ''
Guiding Light''.
Urbont composed the theme songs for ''
The Marvel Super Heroes
''The Marvel Super Heroes'' is an American animated television series starring five comic book superheroes from Marvel Comics. The first TV series based on Marvel characters, it debuted in broadcast syndication, syndication on United States, U.S. ...
'' cartoon series, which premiered in 1966.
In 1969, Urbont helped produce a Christmas album for each
NFL team.
His theme for ''
General Hospital'' was one of the longest running themes for a
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
.
Urbont composed the music for the movie ''
Video Vixens
''Video Vixens'' (also known as ''Black Socks'') is a 1975 sex comedy film written by Joel Gross and directed by Ron Sullivan under the pseudonym Henri Pachard.
The crew features many of the cast from the 1972 horror film '' The Last House on ...
'', which premiered in 1975.
Lawsuits
In 2011, Urbont sued
Ghostface Killah
Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 C ...
for copyright violation for his use of ''
The Marvel Super Heroes
''The Marvel Super Heroes'' is an American animated television series starring five comic book superheroes from Marvel Comics. The first TV series based on Marvel characters, it debuted in broadcast syndication, syndication on United States, U.S. ...
''
Iron Man theme song in his 2000 album ''
Supreme Clientele
''Supreme Clientele'' is the second studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah, released on February 8, 2000 by Epic Records. The album showcases Ghostface's signature up-tempo, stream-of-consciousness rhyme style, a ...
''. Urbont lost the lawsuit at the District Court level. That decision was overturned on appeal.
Awards
Urbont was nominated for four
Daytime Emmy
The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...
awards, winning once for ''
Lorne Greene's New Wilderness
''Lorne Greene's New Wilderness'' (or just ''New Wilderness'') was a Canadian television nature documentary series debuting 14 September 1982 starring Lorne Greene. The series initially aired on CTV but was syndicated in 80 per cent of the U.S ...
''. Urbont was also nominated for three
Primetime Emmy
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
awards for ''
Bronk'' and one for ''The Supercops''.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urbont, Jack
Living people
20th-century American composers
Place of birth missing (living people)
Year of birth missing (living people)