Richard Allen Markowitz (September 3, 1926 in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

, California – December 6, 1994 in Santa Monica, California) was an American film and television composer. He was the father of singer

Kate Markowitz Catherine Judith "Kate" Markowitz (Born 28 April 1956) is an American singer-songwriter known as a backup singer who has recorded and performed with a number of singers, most notably James Taylor but also Willy DeVille, Shawn Colvin, Mylène Farm ...

Biography

As a

Santa Monica High School Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to SaMoHi, is located in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Boulevard. It is a part o ...

student, Markowitz led a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

called Dick Allen and the Teenagers under the name Dick Allen. Following his graduation in 1943 he performed military service in World War II. After the war, Markowitz studied music in Paris and under

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 t ...

and Arnold Schoenberg. While in Paris he played in jazz clubs and met his wife Haru Yanai.p. 44 Bessman, Jim ''Markowitz Maps Solo Career with Dad as Inspiration'' ''Billboard'' 27 March 2004 Markowitz began film composing with the 1958 film '' Stakeout on Dope Street'' for director

Irvin Kershner Irvin Kershner (born Isadore Kershner; April 29, 1923November 27, 2010) was an American film director, actor, and producer of film and television. He gained notice early in his career as a filmmaker for directing quirky, independent drama films ...

. He collaborated again with Kernsher on the films '' The Young Captives'', (1959), '' Hoodlum Priest'' (1961), and '' Face in the Rain'' (1963). He collaborated with his wife on the score of the film '' Roadracers'' (1959) where Haru wrote lyrics to the songs. His other film scores included ''

One Man's Way ''One Man's Way'' is a 1963 American drama film directed by Denis Sanders and written by John W. Bloch and Eleanore Griffin. The film stars Don Murray as the preacher and author Norman Vincent Peale. The cast also includes Diana Hyland, Willia ...

'' (1963), ''

Bus Riley's Back in Town ''Bus Riley's Back in Town'' is a 1965 American drama film written by William Inge, directed by Harvey Hart, and starring Ann-Margret and Michael Parks Michael Parks (born Harry Samuel Parks; April 24, 1940 – May 9, 2017) was an American ...

'' (1965), '' Wild Seed'' (1965), ''

Ride Beyond Vengeance ''Ride Beyond Vengeance'' is a 1966 American Western film starring Chuck Connors. The film was directed by Bernard McEveety and written and produced by Andrew J. Fenady, adapted from the story "The Night of the Tiger" by Al Dewlen. The executiv ...

'' (1966), ''

The Shooting ''The Shooting'' is a 1966 American Western film directed by Monte Hellman, with a screenplay by Carole Eastman (using the pseudonym Adrien Joyce). It stars Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Will Hutchins, and Jack Nicholson, and was produced by ...

'' (1966), which starred

Warren Oates Warren Mercer Oates (July 5, 1928 – April 3, 1982) was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah, including ''The Wild Bunch'' (1969) and ''Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'' (1974). A ...

and

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

, ''

Cry for Me, Billy ''Cry for Me, Billy'' (also known as ''Count Your Bullets'') is a 1972 American Western film directed by William A. Graham and starring Cliff Potts and Maria Potts. It was one of the first films from Brut Productions.Following the Scent to Bru ...

'' (1972), and '' Circle of Power'' (1981). In 1961 he composed the score for

Bert I. Gordon Bert Ira Gordon (born September 24, 1922) is an American filmmaker and visual effects artist. He is best known for writing and directing science fiction and horror B-movies such as ''King Dinosaur'' (1955), ''The Amazing Colossal Man'' (1957), '' ...

's '' The Magic Sword'' and began his television career composing the theme song and background music to '' The Rebel'' where the theme song was sung by Johnny Cash. He again scored a well known Western TV series when he replaced

Dimitri Tiomkin Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (, ; May 10, 1894 – November 11, 1979) was a Russian-born American film composer and conductor. Classically trained in St. Petersburg, Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution, he moved to Berlin and then New York City ...

in conducting the theme and background music to '' The Wild Wild West''. Keeping with the Western genre he scored the television movie ( Scalplock) that spawned the series '' The Iron Horse'' as well as providing music for a variety of American television series and made for TV movies such as '' Weekend of Terror'' (1970), '' The Hanged Man'' (1974), '' Brinks: The Great Robbery'' (1976), '' Mayday at 40,000 Feet!'' (1976) and ''

Death Car on the Freeway ''Death Car on the Freeway'' is a 1979 American made-for-television crime thriller film starring Shelley Hack. In a plot similar to Steven Spielberg's '' Duel'', this tells the story of an unseen driver who is dubbed "The Freeway Fiddler". The c ...

'' (1979).

Television series scored by Markowitz

* ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invas ...

'' *''

The FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

'' *'' The Wild Wild West'' *'' Mission: Impossible'' *'' Mannix'' *''

Quincy, M.E. ''Quincy, M.E.'' (also called ''Quincy'') is an American mystery medical drama television series from Universal Studios that aired on NBC from October 3, 1976, to May 11, 1983. Jack Klugman starred in the title role as a Los Angeles County med ...

'' *'' Police Story'' *'' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' *'' Columbo'' *''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'' ( 2 episodes 1986 )

Television

"Episode(s)" denotes the listing may be incomplete.

References

External links

*
In Memoriam Richard Markowitz (1926–1994)
American film score composers 1926 births 1994 deaths Musicians from Santa Monica, California 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American composers American male film score composers 20th-century American male musicians American military personnel of World War II {{US-composer-20thC-stub