Frank De Vol
Frank De Vol | |
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Born | Frank Denny De Vol September 20, 1911 |
Died | October 27, 1999 Lafayette, California, U.S. | (aged 88)
Occupations |
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Years active | 1923–1999 |
Known for | Movie and TV theme songs |
Spouses |
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Children | 2 |
Frank Denny De Vol (September 20, 1911 – October 27, 1999) was an American bandleader, arranger, composer and actor. As a composer, he was nominated for four Academy Awards.
Early life
De Vol was born in Moundsville in Marshall County in northern West Virginia, and was reared in Canton, Ohio. His father, Herman Frank De Vol, was band-leader of the Grand Opera House in Canton, Ohio,[1] and his mother, Minnie Emma Humphreys De Vol, had worked in a sewing shop. He attended Miami University.
De Vol began composing music when he was 12.
Career
Arrangements
By the time De Vol was 16, "he was doing arrangements with professional skill."
In 1966–1967, he arranged
Mood music
The success of "Nature Boy", recorded for
Concert appearances
In the 1950s, De Vol's orchestra played frequently at the Hollywood Palladium under the concert name "Music of the Century".
Radio
De Vol's orchestra and arrangements were available to radio stations via electrical transcriptions. His work was syndicated by Capitol Transcriptions,[2] for which he also was musical director.[3]
Hollywood
De Vol wrote the scores for many Hollywood movies, receiving
De Vol's numerous scores included Kiss Me Deadly (1955), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), McLintock! (1963), The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), The Glass Bottom Boat (1966), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Hustle (1975), Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) and Herbie Goes Bananas (1980). He also scored many Doris Day comedies and films for director Robert Aldrich.
De Vol also composed the jingle for the Screen Gems' "Dancing Sticks" logo (1963–1965), which appeared on all television series produced by the television division of Columbia Pictures.
Television work
De Vol was musical director (and occasionally seen) on
De Vol is best recognized for his television theme tunes, like , amongst other work for television.
Beginning in 1969, "The Fuzz" became the theme song of Brazilian television newscast Jornal Nacional.
Acting
De Vol was also an actor specializing in deadpan comic characters. He was perhaps best known as the dour bandleader Happy Kyne on the Norman Lear talk show parodies Fernwood 2 Night and America 2-Night, in 1977–78. He also had a recurring role in I'm Dickens, He's Fenster as Myron Bannister, Dickens & Fenster's boss; and appeared on The Cara Williams Show, I Dream of Jeannie, Gidget, Bonanza, Petticoat Junction - (1967 episode: "That Was the Night That Was" & 1969 episode: "The Organ Fund" - as Reverend Barton), Mickey starring Mickey Rooney, The Brady Bunch, Get Smart (at least 2 appearances as Professor Carleton) and The Jeffersons. He had also comic roles as Chief Eaglewood, the head of the Thundercloud Boys' Camp in 1961's The Parent Trap, and as the onscreen narrator in Jerry Lewis's 1967 comedy film The Big Mouth.
De Vol appeared as a bandleader in the last season of My Three Sons, in addition to writing the theme music and serving as in-house composer for most of the show's twelve seasons. He also scored most episodes of Family Affair, including many of the same incidental music cues as My Three Sons.
In 1980, he appeared in the second season of Diff'rent Strokes, in episode 22, "The Slumber Party".
De Vol preferred to be credited as "Frank De Vol" for his acting appearances, and as "De Vol" for his musical work.[5]
Personal life and death
De Vol was initiated as an honorary member of the Gamma Omega chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music, in 1962.
In the mid-1990s, well into his eighties, De Vol was active in the Big Band Academy of America.
He was married twice, first to Grayce Agnes McGinty in 1935. The 54-year marriage produced two daughters, Linda Morehouse and Donna Copeland, and ended with Grayce's death in 1989. His second marriage was to television actress and big band singer Helen O'Connell from 1991 until her death in 1993.
De Vol died of congestive heart failure on October 27, 1999, in Lafayette, California.[6] He is interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood Hills.
Filmography
Composer
- World for Ransom (1954)
- Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
- The Big Knife (1955)
- Attack (1956)
- The Ride Back (1957)
- Johnny Trouble (1957)
- Pillow Talk(1959)
- Murder, Inc. (1960)
- Lover Come Back (1961)
- Boys' Night Out (1962)
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
- The Thrill of It All (1963)
- For Love or Money (1963)
- Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963)
- McLintock! (1963)
- The Wheeler Dealers (1963)
- Good Neighbor Sam (1964)
- Send Me No Flowers (1964)
- Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
- Cat Ballou (1965)
- The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
- The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
- Texas Across the River (1966)
- The Ballad of Josie (1967)
- The Happening (1967)
- Caprice (1967)
- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
- The Dirty Dozen (1967)
- What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968)
- The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)
- Krakatoa, East of Java (1969)
- Ulzana's Raid (1972)
- Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
- The Longest Yard (1974)
- Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975)
- Hustle (1975)
- Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977)
- The Choirboys (1977)
- The Frisco Kid (1979)
- Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)
- ...All the Marbles (1981)
Actor
- The Parent Trap (1961) - Mr. Eaglewood
- Boys' Night Out (1962) - One of the guys in the hallway (uncredited)
- A Very Special Favor (1965) - Desk Clerk
- The Big Mouth (1967) - Bogart
- W.C. Fields and Me(1976) - Undertaker (uncredited)
- The Frisco Kid (1979) - Piano Player - Old Timer
Academy Award nominations
- Pillow Talk(1959)
- Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
- Cat Ballou (1965)
- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
References
- ^ a b c Kramer, Lillian (March 16, 1947). "Doubling in Laughs" (PDF). Radio Life. p. 38. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ISSN 1068-6827. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ Woo, Elaine (October 29, 1999). "Studio Composer Frank DeVol Dies". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ McLintock! (DVD commentary).
- ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (October 30, 1999). "Frank DeVol, 88, a Composer For Movies and TV Sitcoms". The New York Times.
External links
- Frank De Vol at AllMusic
- Frank De Vol discography at Discogs
- Frank De Vol at IMDb
- Frank De Vol Archived May 29, 2018, at the Wayback Machine papers at the American Heritage Center
- Frank De Vol at Find a Grave
- Frank De Vol Interview at NAMM Oral History Collection (1999)