OBITUARY 

Studio Composer Frank DeVol Dies Hollywood: Despite many Emmy and Oscar nominations, he was best known for 'Brady Bunch' theme.                                                By ELAINE WOO, Times Staff Writer                                                     Frank DeVol did not invent the microwave oven. He did not                                              climb the world's tallest mountain. Nor did he write a computer                                              program that people cannot live without. He did more.                                                    DeVol wrote theme songs, winsome, bouncing, haunting ditties                                              for television and the movies that invaded Americans' psyches and                                              lodged there--like it or not--for years.                                                    Here's the story of a lovely lady                                                    Who was bringing up three very lovely girls . . .                                                    DeVol wrote the music for those lyrics that have burrowed into                                              pop culture history as the theme song for "The Brady Bunch," the                                              kitschy 1970s sitcom enjoying perpetual life in rerun heaven.                                               One of Hollywood's most popular musical                                              arranger-composer-conductors, DeVol died Wednesday at age 88                                              in a nursing home in Lafayette, Calif.                                                    His compositions include classic TV themes for "My Three                                              Sons" and "Family Affair," as well as songs for such movies as                                              "Pillow Talk," "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", "Hush, Hush,                                              Sweet Charlotte," "The Dirty Dozen" and "Guess Who's Coming to                                              Dinner."                                                    He began to write music for TV and film after a successful                                              career in radio during the big band era, when he also arranged and                                              conducted recording sessions for such stars as Doris Day, Tony                                              Bennett, Jaye P. Morgan and Ella Fitzgerald.                                                      During his seven-decade career, he received five Academy                                              Award and five Emmy nominations. The latter included a                                              nomination for the "Brady Bunch" song, which never failed to elicit                                              the most rousing reaction whenever he mentioned or played his                                              compositions.                                                    "People gave him tremendous ovations when they found out                                              what he did," said Bob Weiss, DeVol's former publicist and                                              longtime family friend. "They'd say, 'Oh, you're 'The Brady Bunch,'                                              you're 'My Three Sons.' "                                                    DeVol was born in Moundsville, W.Va., but was raised in                                              Canton, Ohio, where his father was bandleader for the local                                              vaudeville theater. DeVol joined the musicians union when he was                                              14 and played violin and piano for his father's band. Saving his                                              earnings from $35-a-week appearances at a Chinese restaurant in                                              Cleveland, he bought a saxophone next, learning to play it by                                              watching other musicians.                                                    By the late 1930s, he was playing and arranging for the Horace                                              Heidt orchestra. When guitarist Alvino Rey left that band, DeVol                                              began to arrange for him.                                                    By the early 1940s, DeVol was living in California and working                                              the graveyard shift for Lockheed when he received a phone call                                              from KHJ, then a Mutual Network radio station, inviting him to be                                              the bandleader for a musical program. Before long, he was musical                                             director for a host of radio personalities, including Ginny Simms,                                              Rudi Vallee, Jack Smith, Dinah Shore and Jack Carson. That led to                                              DeVol reading parts in comedies and becoming a radio personality                                             himself.                                                    Decades later, he married another figure from the big band era,                                              vocalist Helen O'Connell. That marriage occurred in 1991, after the                                              death of DeVol's first wife, Grayce. O'Connell died in 1993.                                                    DeVol's break into movies and television came in 1954, when a                                              friend got him a job on a low-budget Robert Aldrich film called                                              "World for Ransom." The entire music budget was only $3,500, but                                              DeVol took it because "I never turn anything down," he said. That                                             movie earned him his first Oscar nomination and established him as                                             a Hollywood composer. He wrote music for 16 Aldrich movies                                             alone, including the 1967 box office hit "The Dirty Dozen."                                                    By the early 1960s, DeVol had movie composing down to a                                              science. "I make a chart," he told The Times in 1965. "If I'm scoring                                              a picture and I know I've got to write 85 minutes of music and I've                                              got 15 days to do it, that means I've got to produce five to six                                              minutes of music a day. This way I don't dawdle along."                                                    All together, DeVol wrote music for 47 movies and seven                                              television series.                                                  He also acted, making appearances on the Jack Benny television                                              show, the original "Parent Trap" movie and "Fernwood 2-Night,"                                              the 1977 sitcom about a talk show on which DeVol played a studio                                              orchestra leader who ran a dental office on the side.                                                    Overshadowing all those accomplishments over a seven-decade                                              career, however, was that 21-line song about a "lovely lady" and "a                                              man named Brady" whose notes DeVol wrote in a day.                                                    Although never a ratings hit, "The Brady Bunch" has provided                                              much grist for analysis in the pop culture mill. Its depiction of a                                              family happily solving mundane disputes over who does the dishes                                              or gets to use the phone was so far removed from Vietnam era                                              woes that it generated a camp following.                                                    Whenever DeVol, who was popular on the cruise circuit in his                                              later years, spoke of his work to audiences, he found it was always                                              the "Brady Bunch" tune that stirred them most.                                                    "When I mention 'Brady Bunch,' " he said a few years ago,                                              "that's when the audience really applauds."                                                    DeVol, a longtime resident of Toluca Lake before moving to                                              San Juan Capistrano and Laguna Hills, is survived by two                                              daughters, Linda Morehouse of Lafayette and Donna Copeland of                                              Denver, and two grandsons.                                                    A memorial service will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Forest                                              Lawn Memorial-Park in Hollywood Hills. Donations may be sent to                                              the Musicians Relief Fund, 817 N. Vine St., Hollywood CA                                              90038.         Frank DeVol, 'Brady Bunch' Theme Composer, Dies                            Steve Gorman                             10/31/99                             LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Film and TV composer Frank                            DeVol, whose classic themes for ``The Brady Bunch'' and ``My                            Three Sons'' became fixtures of America's pop culture, has                            died at age 88, his family said Friday.                             DeVol, who also wrote music to about 50 movies and earned                            four Academy Award nominations for film scores, died                            Wednesday at a nursing home in Lafayette, California, his                            daughter, Linda Morehouse, said. He had been in declining                            health, suffering from congestive heart failure and other                            illnesses, she said.                             DeVol began his career at age 14, playing violin in his father's                            orchestra in Ohio, and went on to become an arranger and                            musical director for radio shows during the 1930s and 40s                            before graduating to film scores in the 1950s. He also served                            as an arranger for several star singers and was the arranger                            and conductor for Nat ``King'' Cole's classic hit ``Nature Boy''                            on Capitol Records.                            DeVol scored music for 16 films directed by Robert Aldrich                            alone, including the 1967 box office hit ``The Dirty Dozen.'' But                            it was in TV during the 1960s and 70s that DeVol left his most                            indelible mark, writing the winsome title songs to the family                            sitcoms ``My Three Sons,'' ``Family Affair'' and ``The Brady                            Bunch.''                            ``The Brady Bunch'' theme, a catchy 21-line ditty about a                            ''lovely lady'' and ``a man named Brady,'' earned DeVol one of                            his five Emmy nominations and is his best-known work. It is a                            piece of music instantly recognizable to a generation of TV                            viewers who remember the show from its original 1969-1974                            run as well as fans the series has cultivated in its syndicated                            afterlife.                            Taking to the lecture circuit during his later years, DeVol                            always ``found there was a very loud appreciation for 'The                            Brady Bunch''' among his audiences, said longtime friend and                            former publicist Bob Weiss.                            He received Oscar nominations for the music he scored for                            ''Pillow Talk'' (1959), ``Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte'' (1964),                            ''Cat Ballou'' (1965) and ``Guess Who's Coming to Dinner''                            (1967). His film music credits also include ``The Flight of the                            Phoenix'' (1965) and ``McLintock!'' (1963).                            Born in Moundsville, West Virginia, and raised in Canton,                            Ohio, DeVol got his showbiz start playing in his father's                            orchestra pit for silent films and vaudeville acts.                            After marrying dancer Grayce Agnes McGinty and moving to                            California in the 1930s, he became an arranger and musical                            director for a number of radio stars. During the 1940s and 50s,                            he arranged music and conducted orchestras backing such                            vocalists as Doris Day, Margaret Whiting, Rosemary Clooney,                            Tony Bennett, Vic Damone and Ella Fitzgerald.                            DeVol also landed several acting jobs, including guest                            appearances on the Jack Benny show and several sitcoms,                            including the role of Happy Kyne in the 1977 comedy                            ``Fernwood 2-Night'' and a role in the 1961 film ``The Parent                            Trap.''

 

 

BIOGRAPHY

From Space Age Pop Music    Born: 20 September 1911, Moundsville, West Virginia   Died: 27 October 1999, Lafayette, California  After years of seeing "Music by DeVol" flash by on the opening credits of countless TV shows and movies, I had come to assume that "DeVol" was some faceless business, the musical equivalent of "Color by Deluxe."     To the contrary, Frank DeVol was a real person who proved more than willing on occasion to put his face in front of the camera--and did so, in fact, playing the bandleader Happy Kyne on Martin Mull's talk-show parody sitcom, "Fernwood 2 Nite" (later "America 2 Nite"). Unlike his character, who was often the brunt of host Barth Gimble's sarcasm, DeVol was a shrewd and able professional, a mainstay of the studio system.       DeVol was raised in Canton, Ohio, where his father was bandleader for the local vaudeville theater. DeVol      joined his father's band when he was 14, and was a full-time professional musician before he was twenty.      After a variety of gigs, he was hired by Horace Heidt to play and arrange, but when guitarist Alvino Rey left      that band, DeVol went with him. By the early 1940s, DeVol was leading his own band on Mutural Network      station KHJ in Los Angeles. He soon became musical director for the network, working with Rudi Vallee,      Dinah Shore, Jack Carson, and others, and was appearing himself in some of the on-air skits.       DeVol worked in radio until the early 1950s, when director Robert Aldrich hired him to score a low-budget      movie, "World for Ransom." Other studio jobs followed, and by the early 1960s, most of his time was spent      writing and conducting music for series such as "My Three Sons" and "The Brady Bunch" and movies like      "Pillow Talk," "Good Neighbor Sam," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," and "Krakatoa: East of Java." He      won five Oscar nominations for his scores and five Emmys for his television themes and scores. He was in    steady demand as an arranger for vocalists such as Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Vic Damone, June Christy, and      Peggy Lee. And in his spare moments, he did occasional acting bits, appearing in movies such as "The      Parent Trap" before his "Fernwood/America 2 Nite" stint.       But DeVol was also a recording artist with Capitol, Columbia, and finally, ABC, and released over a dozen      albums of fairly standard--although not so hackneyed as Mantovani's--string-laden easy listening music. The      most noteworthy of these for space age pop fans is Bacchanale, a suite of compositions by Albert Harris      centered on the theme of the gods of Greek mythology.       In the mid-1980s, after the death of his first wife, DeVol married the big band-era singer Helen O'Connell,      and together the couple performed on cruise ships for several years until O'Connell's death in 1997.

 

 LINKS

Space Age Pop Music    Frank DeVol             Brady Bunch