Nathan Scott | Film, TV composer, 94

Nathan Scott, 94, a film and television composer, arranger, and conductor whose credits include composing music for the TV classics

Dragnet

and

Lassie

, died Feb. 27 at his Los Angeles home.

In a four-decade career that began on radio in the early 1940s, Mr. Scott launched a six-year post-World War II stint at Republic Pictures as a composer, arranger, and conductor on films starring actors such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. That included composing the music for the John Wayne sea picture Wake of the Red Witch.

In 1952, he left Republic and began working on TV's Dragnet as the arranger for composer Walter Schumann, who wrote the famous dum-de-dum-dum theme for the popular Jack Webb police show.

As a freelance composer, he worked on series such as Have Gun - Will Travel, My Three Sons, Rawhide, The Twilight Zone, The Untouchables, and Wagon Train.

Mr. Scott also wrote the theme music for Richard Crenna's 1964-65 dramatic TV series Slattery's People. And from 1963 through 1972, he composed the music for all but four episodes of Lassie.

Mr. Scott also was a big influence on his son, the two-time Grammy Award-winning jazz saxophonist and composer-arranger Tom Scott. - Los Angeles Times