Lyn Murray (born Lionel Breeze, August 13, 1909 – May 20, 1989) was a composer, conductor, and arranger of music for radio, film and television.

Early years

Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Murray was the son of a violinist. Before entering a career in music, Murray was a seaman. He followed that nautical occupation with a stint as a reporter with the

Philadelphia Public Ledger The ''Public Ledger'' was a daily newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, published from March 25, 1836, to January 1942. Its motto was "Virtue Liberty and Independence". For a time, it was Philadelphia's most popular newspaper, but circulation de ...

. He also attended 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 ...

Radio

Murray's initial involvement with radio came in Newport News, Virginia. From 1931 to 1937, he was staff conductor and arranger at

WCAU WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jer ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From there, he went to

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 ...

, where he conducted, arranged, and composed music from 1934 to 1947. He later founded the Lyn Murray Singers, who became known throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as the featured group on

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

's ''

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 ru ...

''. In the early 1940s, Murray, his orchestra and chorus were featured on ''Meet the Music'', "a Sunday evening feature paying weekly tribute to the modern song writers." Beginning in 1943, he led a 20-piece orchestra and 12-member singing group on ''To Your Good Health'', broadcast three times a week on

radio. His other work in radio included composing for ''

The Adventures of Ellery Queen ''The Adventures of Ellery Queen'' is the title of a radio series and four separate television series made from the 1950s through the 1970s. They were based on the fictional detective and pseudonymous writer Ellery Queen and the cases he solved wi ...

'' and being choral director for ''Pursuit of Happiness''. He was also music conductor for ''Radio Reader's Digest''.

Television

Murray worked as a conductor, arranger and producer with such artists as

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

and

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

at CBS prior to moving to NBC in 1947. The Lyn Murray Singers appeared 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 ...

in '' Finian's Rainbow'' (1948), singing arrangements written by Murray for the production. He composed the incidental music for 35 episodes of

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was re ...

between 1962 and 1965 and for 46 episodes of Dragnet 1967 between 1967 and 1969.

Film

In 1950, Murray moved to Hollywood and provided vocal arrangements for Walt Disney's 1950 film ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' and began composing scores for feature films, including '' The Prowler'' (1951), ''

To Catch a Thief '' To Catch a Thief'' is a 1955 American romantic thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, from a screenplay by John Michael Hayes based on the 1952 novel of the same name by David Dodge. The film stars Cary Grant as a retired cat burgl ...

'' (1955), ''

D-Day the Sixth of June ''D-Day the Sixth of June'' is a DeLuxe Color 1956 CinemaScope romance war film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Henry Koster and produced by Charles Brackett from a screenplay by Ivan Moffat and Harry Brown, based on the 1955 nove ...

'' (1956), ''

Escape from Zahrain ''Escape from Zahrain'' is a 1962 American Panavision adventure film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Yul Brynner. The film is based on the novel ''Appointment in Zahrain'' by Michael Barrett (1960). Plot The film is set in the fictional s ...

'' (1962), '' Come Fly with Me'' (1963), ''

Wives and Lovers "Wives and Lovers" is a 1963 song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It has been recorded by numerous male and female vocalists, instrumentalists and ensembles, most notably by Jack Jones in 1963. That recording earned the 1964 Grammy Award for ...

'' (1963), ''

Promise Her Anything ''Promise Her Anything'' is a 1965 British-American romantic comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Warren Beatty and Leslie Caron. The screenplay by William Peter Blatty is based on a story by Arne Sultan and Marvin Worth. The sup ...

'' (1965), ''

Rosie! ''Rosie!'' is a 1967 American comedy film directed by David Lowell Rich, based on Ruth Gordon's play ''A Very Rich Woman''. Plot Rosie Lord is a widowed millionaire who, much to the dismay of her daughters Mildred and Edith, spends her money ...

'' (1967), ''

Strategy of Terror ''Strategy of Terror'' is a 1969 American mystery film directed by Jack Smight, re-edited from a two-part 1965 ''Kraft Suspense Theatre'' episode, "In Darkness, Waiting". Premise A reporter (Barbara Rush) uncovers a plan to assassinate four United ...

'' (1969), ''

The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County ''The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County'' is a 1970 American comedy Western film by Universal Studios, directed by Anton Leader and Ranald MacDougall, and starring Dan Blocker and Nanette Fabray, with a supporting cast featuring Jim Backus, Mic ...

'' (1970) and ''

Love Hate Love ''Love Hate Love'' is a 1971 American made-for-television drama film starring Ryan O'Neal. Reception The ''Los Angeles Times'' called the film "for the most part, improbably developed...O'Neal... is the main strength of this movie." The movie wa ...

'' (1971), as well as creating episodic underscoring for television shows such as '' The Virginian'' (1962), ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

'' (1964), ''

The Time Tunnel ''The Time Tunnel'' is an American color science fiction TV series written around a theme of time travel adventure starring James Darren and Robert Colbert. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science-fiction television series and ...

'' (1966), '' Dragnet'' (1967), and the unaired pilot for '' Mr. Terrific''.

Stage

Arranging choral music for ''This Is the Army'' was Murray's first

experience. He went on to do vocal arrangements for ''Swingin' the Dream'' (1939), ''

Panama Hattie ''Panama Hattie'' is a 1940 American musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Herbert Fields and B. G. DeSylva. The musical is about a nightclub owner, Hattie Maloney, who lives in the Panama Canal Zone and ends up dealing with ...

'' (1940-1942), ''

Let's Face It! ''Let's Face It!'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields is based on the 1925 play ''The Cradle Snatchers'' by Russell Medcraft and Norma Mitchell. The 1941 Broadway and 1942 West End produ ...

'' (1941-1943), and '' Finian's Rainbow'' (1947-1948; 2009–2010).

Recognition

Murray won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in 1986 for his score to the National Geographic special ''Miraculous Machines''.

Family

Murray was married for a time to Carol Irwin in 1940, then to Tina Gray in 1950, and then to fashion historian Margaret Pexton but they divorced in 1982.

Death

Murray lived for many years in

Pacific Palisades, California Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside Los Angeles, Westside region of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. Pacific Palisades was formally founded in 1921 by a Chautauqua, Methodist organization, an ...

, and died of cancer at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...

in Los Angeles, aged 79.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Lyn 1909 births 1989 deaths British film score composers American male film score composers British emigrants to the United States Deaths from cancer in California Musicians from London People from Greater Los Angeles American film score composers British television composers American television composers Primetime Emmy Award winners 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century American male musicians