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, 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 ...

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 Collinspor ...

'' and the TV mini-series '' The Winds of War'' (1983) and its sequel '' War and Remembrance'' (1988), for which he received an

Emmy Awards 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 ...

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 ...

, 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'' (1970) and '' Night of Dark Shadows'' (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 dispo ...

'' (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 Kansas City Massacre'' is a 1975 American television film about Melvin Purvis. It is the second spin-off of the 1973 film ''Dillinger'', following '' Melvin Purvis: G-Man'' in 1974, also directed by Dan Curtis and starring Dale Robertson as ...

'', ''

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 Macmilla ...

'' (1974), '' The Great Ice Rip-Off'' (1974), '' Trilogy of Terror'' (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 ...

'' (1977), '' Curse of the Black Widow'' (1977), '' The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang'' (1979) and ''

Trilogy of Terror II ''Trilogy of Terror II'' is a 1996 American made-for-television anthology horror film and a sequel to '' Trilogy of Terror'' (1975), both directed by Dan Curtis. The film follows the formula of the original, with one female lead ( Lysette Anth ...

'' (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, ...

, 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 ea ...

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'' (1985 theme), ''

Jackpot Jackpot or Jackpot! may refer to: * A prize, such as a progressive jackpot * Gardena jackpots, a poker variant * Jackpot, Nevada, a community on the Nevada–Idaho state border Comics * Jackpot (comics), several comic book characters * ''Jack ...

'' (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 sy ...

'' (1980, 1986–1991 theme, a re-make of the theme from ''

Supertrain ''Supertrain'' is an American science fiction-adventure-drama television series that ran on NBC from February 7 to May 5, 1979. Nine episodes were made, including a two-hour pilot episode. Premise The series takes place on the ''Supertrain'', a ...

''). 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 ...

soap opera '' The Doctors'' and the 1964–66 ABC daytime soap opera '' The Young Marrieds'', and the 1980–1981 CBS reality series '' That's My Line''. 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, 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 small ...

''. 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 ...

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, quiet ...

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 in

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 Sch ...

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