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Robert Cobert | |
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| Born | Robert Cobert (1924-10-26)October 26, 1924 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | February 19, 2020(2020-02-19) (aged 95) Palm Desert, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Desert Memorial Park,Cathedral City, California |
| Era | Contemporary |
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/directorDan Curtis, notably the scores for the 1966–71ABC-TVgothic fiction soap operaDark Shadows and the TV mini-seriesThe Winds of War (1983) and its sequelWar and Remembrance (1988), for which he received anEmmy Award nomination. Together, the latter two scores constitute the longest film music ever written for a film.[1]
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 theJuilliard School, and did radio arranging forWOR-Mutual. He also did some early "ghosting," creating industrial-documentary scoring for established commercial composers.[2]
His early works includeDark Shadows,[3] and the two tie-in feature filmsHouse of Dark Shadows (1970) andNight of Dark Shadows (1971). Cobert composed the scores for the 1972 TV movieThe Night Stalker, the sequelThe Night Strangler (1973), and the offshoot 1974–75 television seriesKolchak: The Night Stalker. His other scores include the horror filmsBurnt Offerings (1976) andScalpel (1977), the comedy filmMe and the Kid (1993), and the television moviesThe Norliss Tapes (1973),Bram Stoker's Dracula (1974),Scream of the Wolf (1974),Melvin Purvis: G-Man (1974) and the 1975 sequelThe Kansas City Massacre,The Turn of the Screw (1974),The Great Ice Rip-Off (1974),Trilogy of Terror (1975),Dead of Night (1977),Curse of the Black Widow (1977),The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang (1979) andTrilogy of Terror II (1996).
Cobert composed themes forgame shows, the bulk of them associated with shows produced byGoodson-Todman Productions andBob Stewart Productions. Of note are themes forTo Tell the Truth (1961–1967 theme),Password (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 (1985–1989 theme) andChain Reaction (1980, 1986–1991 theme, a re-make of the theme fromSupertrain). Cobert scored multiple episodes of the 1963–82NBC soap operaThe Doctors and the 1964–66ABC daytime soap operaThe Young Marrieds, and the 1980–1981CBS reality seriesThat'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.[citation needed]
In September 1969, the original TV soundtrack toDark Shadows, credited to the Robert Cobert Orchestra and featuring sixteen tracks written or co-written by Cobert, reached No. 18 on theBillboard 200 album chart. The song "Quentin's Theme" earned Cobert a Grammy nomination forBest Instrumental Composition, but lost toJohn Barry's theme to the filmMidnight Cowboy (1969). A recording of "Quentin's Theme" byCharles Randolph Grean was released as a single, and in August 1969 it peaked at No. 13 onBillboard's Hot 100 and at No. 3 on itsadult contemporary chart.[4]
Cobert died frompneumonia inPalm Desert, California on February 19, 2020, aged 95.[5] He was interred atDesert Memorial Park inCathedral City.
If the Guinness Book of World Records had an entry for composer of the longest film or TV music score, Bob Cobert would win--hands down.
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