Derek Scott (music director)
Derek Scott | |
---|---|
Born |
Biggleswade, England | 25 December 1921
Died | 27 May 2006 84) | (aged
Nationality | United Kingdom |
Education | Bedford Modern School |
Occupation | Musical director |
Known for |
Double act with both Terry-Thomas and Tony Hancock The Muppet Show The sound and voice of the piano playing dog Rowlf |
Derek Scott (25 December 1921 – 27 May 2006) was a British film, television and stage musical director, film and television composer and musician. He started his career as a double act with both Terry-Thomas and Tony Hancock before becoming a composer for film and television and "one of Britain’s best known light entertainment musical directors."[1][2]
Scott is best known for being the music director for ITV’s The Muppet Show (1976–81)[1][2] composing many of the The Muppet Show songs and being the sound and voice of the piano playing dog Rowlf.[2]
Early life
Scott was born in Biggleswade on 25 December 1921[2] and educated at Bedford Modern School.[1] He showed precocious musical talent becoming a member of the Royal College of Organists at the age of 15.
During World War II, Scott served in the RAF. As a member of Ralph Reader’s Gang Show, he toured Europe and North Africa with a scattering of aspiring comedians including Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock.[1][3] After the war, "Scott accompanied the comedian Sid Field in Piccadilly Hayride (Prince of Wales Theatre 1946) and worked as a stooge with Terry-Thomas."[1]
Career
Scott was "noted for his poise and deadpan humour."[1] In July 1948 he formed a double act with Tony Hancock in a show billed as Hank and Scott which appeared at the Windmill Theatre.[1] Harry Worth and Morecambe and Wise appeared on the same show but the latter were deemed "unfunny".[1]
Hank and Scott made their only TV appearance in New To You (1948).[4] Scott would later compose the music for The Punch and Judy Man.,[1] but not the music for his various radio and TV series, such as Hancock's Half Hour, as earlier cited. This is long-established as the work of Wally Stott (and is still broadcast and credited as such, on BBC Radio).
Scott directed two Royal Variety Shows and was music director for West End shows such as Kiss Me, Kate, Kismet and Brigadoon.[1] He worked in television for ATV at Elstree Studios where he was musical associate for light entertainment specials working with such stars as Barbra Streisand, Bob Hope, Rudolph Nureyev, Tom Jones, Benny Hill and Charlie Drake.[1] He composed for television shows including Market in Honey Lane (1967), The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine (1971) and the police drama Hunter’s Walk (1973).[1] He also wrote the music for Captain Birdseye commercials.[1]
In 2005 Scott was a contributor to a television documentary about Tony Hancock, Unknown Hancock.[5]
Personal life
Scott was married to the actress Sidi Scott.[2] He retired in 1982 and lived at Southwold, Suffolk continuing a tradition he'd started as a schoolboy as organist at St Edmund’s Church.[1]
TV and filmography
Music
- 1996 The Muppet CDROM: Muppets Inside (Video Game) (musician: animal's drum solo)
- 1981 Starburst (TV Series)|Starburst (music associate - 1 episode)
- 1976-1980 The Muppet Show (musical associate - 79 episodes) (conductor - 1 episode, 1980)
- 1978 Dawn of the Dead (composer: stock music - uncredited)
- 1978 Tony Hatch & All Kinds of Music (TV Movie) (music associate)
- 1977 The Tony Hatch Music Show (TV Movie) (music associate)
- 1977 Marti (TV Series) (music associate - 1 episode)
- 1972-1978 General Hospital (UK) (composer - 113 episodes)
- 1970 Carol Channing's Mad English Tea Party (TV Movie) (music associate)
- 1970 The Engelbert Humperdinck Show (TV Series) (music associate - 16 episodes)
- 1969-1970 The Worker (TV Series)|The Worker (musical director - 5 episodes)
- 1969 The Peapicker in Piccadilly (TV Movie) (musical associate)[6]
- 1969 ITV Sunday Night Theatre (TV Series) (music director - 2 episodes, 1969) (music supervisor - 1 episode, 1969)
- 1967 The Benny Hill Show (musical associate)
- 1967 Spotlight (TV Series) (musical associate - 1 episode)
- 1967 Armchair Theatre (TV Series) (musician - 2 episodes)
- 1967 ITV Play of the Week (musical director - 1 episode)
- 1963 Hancock's Half Hour (TV Series) (musical director - 3 episodes)
- 1961 Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium (TV Series) (musical associate - 1 episode)
- 1957-1960 Spectacular (TV Series) (musical associate - 2 episodes)
Composer
- 1978 Parables (TV Series) (1 episode)
- 1970-1973 Crime of Passion (TV Series) (32 episodes)
- 1973 Hunter's Walk (TV Series)
- 1972 Spyder's Web (TV Series) (13 episodes)
- 1972 The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine (TV Series) (1 episode)
- 1970 It's the Only Way to Go (Short)
- 1967 Armchair Theatre (TV Series) (1 episode)
- 1967 Market in Honey Lane
- 1966 Topo Gigio Comes to Town (TV Movie)
- 1966 ITV Play of the Week (TV Series) (1 episode)
- 1963 The Punch and Judy Man
- 1963 Hancock's Half Hour
Soundtrack
- The Muppet Show (TV Series) (writer - 7 episodes, 1976 - 1979) (music - 1 episode, 1977)
- 1978 Dawn of the Dead (writer: "Scarey 1", "Scarey 2", "Fugarock" (Mall Montage Scene) - uncredited)
- 1974 The Best of Benny Hill (music: "Soho Stripper" - uncredited)
- 1963 The Punch and Judy Man (arranger: "Concerto Grosso" (uncredited), "H.M.S. Pinafore" (uncredited), "Overture" (uncredited), "Blow the Man Down" (uncredited), "Hearts of Oak", "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean", "Tom Bowling", "Hornpipe")
- 1957 No Road Back (music: "Society Rumba", "Club Society", "Minor Murder" - uncredited)
Actor
- 1948 New to You (TV Movie)
Pianist
- 2005 Unknown Hancock (TV Movie documentary)[7]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Staff (10 July 2006). "Obituary: Derek Scott". The State.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Derek Scott at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ "Obituary: Tony Hancock". Screen Online. British Film Institute.
- ↑ "Episode Guide: Radio". tonyhancock.org.uk.
- ↑ http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/the_unknown_hancock/
- ↑ Terrace, Vincent (2013). Television Specials: 5,336 Entertainment Programs, 1936-2012 (2nd ed.). McFarland. p. 295. ISBN 9781476612409.
- ↑ The Unknown Hancock