Robert Cobert (October 26, 1924 – February 19, 2020) was an American composer who worked in television and films. He is best known for his work with producer/director

Dan Curtis Dan Curtis (born Daniel Mayer Cherkoss; August 12, 1927 – March 27, 2006) was an American director, writer, and producer of television and film, known among fans of horror films for his afternoon TV series ''Dark Shadows'' (1966–1971) and ...

, notably the scores for the massively popular, now-cult 1966–71 ABC-TV

gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of e ...

soap opera ''

Dark Shadows ''Dark Shadows'' is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinspo ...

'' and the TV mini-series ''

The Winds of War ''The Winds of War'' is Herman Wouk's second book about World War II (the first being ''The Caine Mutiny''). Published in 1971, ''The Winds of War'' was followed up seven years later by ''War and Remembrance''; originally conceived as one volume, ...

'' (1983) and its sequel ''

War and Remembrance ''War and Remembrance'' is a novel by Herman Wouk, published in October 1978 as the sequel to Wouk's '' The Winds of War'' (1971). ''The Winds of War'' covers the period 1939 to 1941, and ''War and Remembrance'' continues the story of the extende ...

'' (1988), for which he received an Emmy Awards nomination. Together, the latter two scores constitute the longest film music ever written for a film.

Early years

As a clarinet and saxophone player, he worked summers with a five-piece band in the Catskills' "Borscht Belt" during his college years. Cobert also played clubs in Manhattan, studied for a year 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 elit ...

, and did radio arranging for WOR-Mutual. He also did some early "ghosting," creating industrial-documentary scoring for established commercial composers.

Film and TV work

His early works include ''

'', and the two tie-in films ''

House of Dark Shadows A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

'' (1970) and ''

Night of Dark Shadows ''Night of Dark Shadows'' is a 1971 horror film by Dan Curtis. It is the sequel to '' House of Dark Shadows''. It centers on the story of Quentin Collins and his bride Tracy at the Collinwood Mansion in Collinsport, Maine. David Selby, Lara Pa ...

'' (1971). Cobert composed the scores for the 1972 TV movie '' The Night Stalker'', the sequel '' The Night Strangler'' (1973), and the 1974–75 television series '' Kolchak: The Night Stalker''. His other scores include the horror films '' Burnt Offerings'' (1976) and ''

Scalpel A scalpel, lancet, or bistoury is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, podiatry and various arts and crafts (either called a hobby knife or an X-acto knife.). Scalpels may be single-use dispos ...

'' (1977), the comedy film '' Me and the Kid'' (1993), and the television movies '' The Norliss Tapes'' (1973), '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1974), '' Scream of the Wolf'' (1974), '' Melvin Purvis: G-Man'' (1974) and the 1975 sequel '' The Kansas City Massacre'', ''

The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in '' Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmil ...

'' (1974), '' The Great Ice Rip-Off'' (1974), ''

Trilogy of Terror ''Trilogy of Terror'' is a 1975 American made-for-television anthology horror film directed by Dan Curtis and starring Karen Black. It features three segments, each based on unrelated short stories by Richard Matheson. The first follows a coll ...

'' (1975), ''

Dead of Night ''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 black and white British anthology horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie W ...

'' (1977), ''

Curse of the Black Widow ''Curse of the Black Widow'' is a 1977 American made-for-television horror film directed by Dan Curtis and starring Tony Franciosa, Donna Mills, Patty Duke, Vic Morrow and June Allyson. It originally aired on ABC on September 16, 1977 and wa ...

'' (1977), ''

The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang ''The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang'' is a 1979 American Western (genre), Western television film directed by Dan Curtis about the Dalton Gang. It is not entirely accurate, as noted at the film's beginning. Plot The film follows the story of the ...

'' (1979) and '' Trilogy of Terror II'' (1996).

Other works

Cobert composed themes for

game shows A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, s ...

, the bulk of them associated with shows produced by

Goodson-Todman Productions Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions. Early life and e ...

and Bob Stewart Productions. Of note are themes for '' To Tell the Truth'' (1961–1967 theme), ''

Password A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple devices), is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of ...

'' (1963–1967 theme), '' Blockbusters'' (1980–1982 theme), '' The $25,000 Pyramid'' (1982 update, also used in 1991, and re-recorded in 2012 and 2016), ''

Your Number's Up ''Your Number's Up'' is a game show that aired on NBC from September 23 to December 20, 1985. The show was hosted by Nipsey Russell with Lee Menning as co-host. Announcing duties were handled by Gene Wood for the first month and John Harlan for ...

'' (1985 theme), '' Jackpot'' (1985–1989 theme) and ''

Chain Reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that sys ...

'' (1980, 1986–1991 theme, a re-make of the theme from '' Supertrain''). Cobert scored multiple episodes of the 1963–82

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

soap opera '' The Doctors'' and the 1964–66 ABC daytime soap opera ''

The Young Marrieds ''The Young Marrieds'' is an American daytime soap opera which aired on ABC from October 5, 1964 to March 25, 1966. The program was created by James Elward and written by Elward with Frances Rickett. Authors John Pascal and Francine Pascal al ...

'', and the 1980–1981

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 ...

reality series ''

That's My Line ''That's My Line'' is a summer CBS reality show developed by Mark Goodson. Conceived in response to the success of NBC's ''Real People'' and ABC's ''That's Incredible!'', ''That's My Line'' borrowed its name from one of Goodson and Bill Todman's ...

''. He composed several pieces for American violist John Peskey, including "Concert Piece for Viola and Small Orchestra"; Peskey commissioned and premiered them with the South Dakota Symphony, plus "Contrasts for Viola and Cello", "3 Moods for 2 Violas", and "Music for Only One Lonely Viola" for Peskey.

Popular Success

1969, the soundtrack to ''Dark Shadows'', credited to the Robert Cobert Orchestra and featuring sixteen tracks written or co-written by Cobert, reached no. 18 on ''Billboards Top 200 album chart. The song "Quentin's Theme" earned Cobert a Grammy nomination for

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (including its previous names) has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of an original piece of music (not an adaptation), first released during the eligibility year. I ...

, but lost to John Barry's theme to the film ''

Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...

''. A recording of "Quentin's Theme" by

Charles Randolph Grean Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

was released as a single, and in August 1969, peaked at no. 13 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and no. 3 on their

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart.

Death

Cobert died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

Palm Desert, California Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has bee ...

on February 19, 2020, aged 95. He was interred at

Desert Memorial Park Desert Memorial Park is a cemetery in Cathedral City, California, United States, near Palm Springs. Opening in 1956 and receiving its first interment in 1957,The Palm Springs Cemetery District itself was covers 504 square miles, including Palm Spr ...

Cathedral City Cathedral city is a city status in the United Kingdom. Cathedral city may also refer to: * Cathedral City, California, a city in Southern California, United States * Cathedral City Cheddar, a brand of Cheddar cheese * Cathedral City High Scho ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobert, Bob 1924 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians American film score composers American television composers Burials at Desert Memorial Park Deaths from pneumonia in California American male film score composers Male television composers Varèse Sarabande Records artists