Fred Karlin | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Frederick James Karlin (1936-06-16)June 16, 1936 |
| Died | March 26, 2004(2004-03-26) (aged 67) Culver City,California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Composer |
Frederick James Karlin[1] (June 16, 1936 – March 26, 2004) was an American composer of more than 130 scores forfeature films andtelevision movies.[1] He also was an accomplishedtrumpeter adept at playingjazz,blues,classical,rock, andmedieval music.
Karlin was born inChicago,Illinois.[2][3] He had a brother, Kenneth.[2][3]
Karlin began playingjazztrumpet[3] in 1950.[2] He studied jazz composition withWilliam Russo and earned aBachelor of Arts degree fromAmherst College, graduating with honors.[2] HisString Quartet No. 2 was his honorsthesis.
Following graduation from college, Karlin moved toNew York City in 1958.[4] He composed and arranged for various bands, including those ofBenny Goodman,[3]Harry James,[5] andChubby Jackson. During this period he also composed and arranged fordocumentary films, theRadio City Music Hall orchestra, andtelevision commercials.
In 1962, Karlin scored arecord album forColumbia of extracts from thecomic stripPeanuts, performed by actressKaye Ballard as Lucy and songwriterArthur Siegel as Charlie Brown. The innovative score was performed by Karlin entirely on children's musical instruments and toys.
Karlin began his film career withUp the Down Staircase in 1967.[3][1] Following in quick succession wereYours, Mine and Ours (1968),The Stalking Moon (1968),The Sterile Cuckoo (1969),[3]The Baby Maker (1970),Cover Me Babe (1970) andLovers and Other Strangers (1970).[3] For the latter he wrote the music for the song"For All We Know",[3] which won the 1971Academy Award for Best Original Song and was a Top 10 hit forThe Carpenters.[1]The Sandpiperscharted with another of his compositions, "Come Saturday Morning".[1] Other Karlin scores were nominated for three Academy Awards, including one for the movieThe Little Ark (Based on a novel byJan de Hartog) in 1972, his wife, Marsha, was also nominated for the same film. His other film scores includedThe Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971),Believe in Me (1971),Every Little Crook and Nanny (1972),Westworld (1973),[3]The Spikes Gang (1974),Chosen Survivors (1974),The Gravy Train (1974),Mixed Company (1974),Mastermind (1976),Baby Blue Marine (1976),Futureworld (1976),Greased Lightning (1977),Mean Dog Blues (1978),California Dreaming (1979),Ravagers (1979),Cloud Dancer (1980),Loving Couples (1980) andStrawberry Road (1991).
However the bulk of Karlin's work was in television. His compositions were nominated for theEmmy Award eleven times, and he won forThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman in 1974.[3] Other TV films includedThe Man Who Could Talk to Kids (1973),Born Innocent (1974),Bad Ronald (1974),The Dream Makers (1975),Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976),Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn (1977),The Death of Richie (1977),Minstrel Man (1977, for which he received anNAACP Image Award),[1]The Hostage Heart (1977),Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A. (1977),Lucan (1978),The Awakening Land (1978),Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter (1979),Vampire (1979),Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (1980),Miracle on Ice (1981),Bitter Harvest (1981),Inside the Third Reich (1982),Baby Sister (1983),Dadah Is Death (1988),Murder C.O.D. (1990),Her Wicked Ways (1991) andThe Secret (1992).
Karlin wrote three books about film composition,On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring (1990),[3]Listening to Movies: The Film Lover's Guide to Film Music (1994), and100 Great Film Scores, which was published posthumously in 2005. He also wrote a reference book detailing and cataloguing the thousands of recordings theEdison Company distributed between 1914 and 1929.On the Track has been considered highly influential and authoritative for film and TV composers.[5]
Karlin married musician and musicologist Margaret "Meg" Anne (née Stagg) Karlin (a.k.a. Tylwyth Kymry[1] and Meg Welles[6]) in 1963.[2] They recorded three albums together.[2] The couple had two daughters, Wendy Karlin and Kathryn Velasquez, and two sons, Eric and Kristopher[6] and four grandchildren.[2] In 1978, Wendy murdered Kristopher, and she later served a short-term sentence in a mental hospital. (Needs Citation). Kristopher's death was a great blow to Fred.[7]
Fred Karlin died at age 67 ofcancer inCulver City,California.[3] His widow Meg died July 31, 2016, inWest Hollywood, California.[6]
