Maury Laws (December 6, 1923 - March 28, 2019) was an American television and film composer, best known for his work with Rankin/Bass. In his teens, Laws performed in local country, jazz and dance bands as a singer and guitarist in his home state of North Carolina. His career was put on hold during World War II, in which he served in the Army. In 1964, he was hired as music director for Rankin/Bass, a post which he held for roughly 20 years. In this capacity, he conducted and scored music for a number of animated specials and movies. His most widely known score may be that of the well-known Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, first aired in 1964.
After retiring from Rankin/Bass, Maury continued to compose and arrange music for vocalists, jazz artists and symphony orchestras.
Maury was married to former NBC News producer, Karen Rutledge in Wisconsin. Their oldest son, John, lives in Chicago. Daughter, Wendy, resides in Phoenix and son, Christopher, lives on Cape Cod.
Known Christmas works[]
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (musical director)
- Cricket on the Hearth (composer)
- The Little Drummer Boy (composer)
- Frosty the Snowman (musical director)
- Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (composer, orchestrator)
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (composer)
- The Year Without a Santa Claus (composer)
- The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow (composer, music arranger)
- Frosty's Winter Wonderland (conductor, music arranger)
- Rudolph's Shiny New Year (composer)
- The Little Drummer Boy, Book II (composer)
- Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (composer)
- The Stingiest Man in Town (music supervisor)
- Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (conductor, music arranger)
- Jack Frost (composer, conductor, music arranger)
- Pinocchio's Christmas (composer)
- The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (composer, conductor, music arranger)
External links[]
content from Wikipedia (view authors). |
|