Maury Laws, who as musical director for Rankin-Bass productions supervised the scoring of such animated TV classics as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “The Hobbit,” died March 28 in Appleton, Wisc. He was 95.
Laws’ greatest achievement in TV was arranging and conducting all of the music for the 1964 stop-motion animation version of “Rudolph,” which featured new songs by original “Rudolph” songwriter Johnny Marks. Laws’ warm orchestral settings for such songs as “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “There’s Always Tomorrow” and the title tune helped to make the hour-long show a holiday season perennial.
The success of “Rudolph” led to a series of animated specials by the Rankin-Bass company. Laws worked with Fred Astaire on “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” (1970), Danny Kaye on “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” (1971), Angela Lansbury on “The First Christmas” (1975) and Judy Collins on “The Wind in the Willows” (1987), often writing the songs with lyricist and...
Laws’ greatest achievement in TV was arranging and conducting all of the music for the 1964 stop-motion animation version of “Rudolph,” which featured new songs by original “Rudolph” songwriter Johnny Marks. Laws’ warm orchestral settings for such songs as “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “There’s Always Tomorrow” and the title tune helped to make the hour-long show a holiday season perennial.
The success of “Rudolph” led to a series of animated specials by the Rankin-Bass company. Laws worked with Fred Astaire on “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” (1970), Danny Kaye on “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” (1971), Angela Lansbury on “The First Christmas” (1975) and Judy Collins on “The Wind in the Willows” (1987), often writing the songs with lyricist and...
- 4/1/2019
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Bradley Bolke, who provided the voice of Chumley the walrus opposite Don Adams on the Tennessee Tuxedo cartoons of the 1960s, has died. He was 93.
Bolke died Tuesday in Dobbs Ferry, New York, Rick Goldschmidt, the official historian and biographer for Rankin/Bass Productions, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Bolke played the dimwitted Chumley, the South Pole sidekick to Adams' wise-cracking penguin, on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, which aired on CBS from 1963-66 and then for years afterward in reruns. The duo resided in the Megapolis Zoo, and when they had a problem, they consulted with their friend Phineas J. Whoopee, the "...
Bolke died Tuesday in Dobbs Ferry, New York, Rick Goldschmidt, the official historian and biographer for Rankin/Bass Productions, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Bolke played the dimwitted Chumley, the South Pole sidekick to Adams' wise-cracking penguin, on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, which aired on CBS from 1963-66 and then for years afterward in reruns. The duo resided in the Megapolis Zoo, and when they had a problem, they consulted with their friend Phineas J. Whoopee, the "...
- 1/16/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.