Ron Grainer
Encyclopedia
Ronald Erle “Ron” Grainer (11 August 192221 February 1981) was an Australia
n-born composer who worked for most of his professional career in the United Kingdom
. He is mostly remembered for his film and television music.
, Australia. He attended high school at St. Joseph's Nudgee College
on Brisbane's Northside and then went on to study music under Sir Eugene Goosens
at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music
, but this was interrupted by World War II
. He was enlisted to the Australian Army
and was injured, almost losing a leg.
Moving to Britain in the 1950s, Grainer collaborated with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
on a number of television series themes, including Giants of Steam (a documentary about railways) and in 1963 the science fiction
series Doctor Who
. Grainer was so impressed with Delia Derbyshire
's electronic realisation of his score (which remained the standard version of the Doctor Who theme
for 18 years) that he is reported to have said on hearing it, "Did I really write that?" - to which Derbyshire responded "well, mostly!" He also offered to split his royalty with her, but this was prevented by BBC
bureaucracy.
Grainer composed the music for a number of other ITC productions, including Man in a Suitcase
.
Among his most eclectic film works was the music to The Omega Man
, based upon the book I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
and starring Charlton Heston
. The soundtrack was not released on CD until 2002 in a limited run of 3,000 copies. It was remastered and given a general release in 2008, the original occasionally changing hands as a rarity. The music contains a mix of symphonic, jazz, avant garde and electronic music. Grainer's work on The Prisoner may have led to his being hired to score the film. It has been noted that the theme music and incidental music seemed remarkably similar to those of The Prisoner, with alternative notes removed, and the film itself contains visual elements that could be references to, or homage to, The Prisoner. A compilation LP album, The Exciting Television Music of Ron Grainer, appeared in 1980. In 1994, a CD comprising 30 TV and film themes composed by Grainer, The A To Z Of British TV Themes - The Ron Grainer Years, was released by Play It Again
.
One of Grainer's later themes, Tales of the Unexpected
, was also to become famous. The light, slightly mocking theme became a hallmark of the series.
Grainer was married twice, first to Margot (one stepdaughter: Rel) and later to Jennifer (1966–76; one son: Damian), whom he divorced in 1976. Grainer died from spinal cancer in Cuckfield
, Sussex
, England
, aged 58. His second ex-wife was at his side.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n-born composer who worked for most of his professional career in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. He is mostly remembered for his film and television music.
Biography
Grainer was born in Atherton, QueenslandAtherton, Queensland
Atherton is a town on the Atherton Tablelands of Far North Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Atherton had a population of 7,068.-Roads:...
, Australia. He attended high school at St. Joseph's Nudgee College
St. Joseph's Nudgee College
St Joseph's Nudgee College is a private, Roman Catholic, day and boarding school for boys, located in Boondall, a northern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia....
on Brisbane's Northside and then went on to study music under Sir Eugene Goosens
Eugène Aynsley Goossens
Sir Eugene Aynsley Goossens was an English conductor and composer.-Biography:He was born in Camden Town, London, the son of the Belgian conductor and violinist Eugène Goossens and the grandson of the conductor Eugène Goossens...
at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
, but this was interrupted by World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was enlisted to the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
and was injured, almost losing a leg.
Moving to Britain in the 1950s, Grainer collaborated with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware...
on a number of television series themes, including Giants of Steam (a documentary about railways) and in 1963 the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. Grainer was so impressed with Delia Derbyshire
Delia Derbyshire
Delia Ann Derbyshire was an English musician and composer of electronic music and musique concrète. She is best known for her electronic realisation of Ron Grainer's theme music to the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and for her work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.-Early...
's electronic realisation of his score (which remained the standard version of the Doctor Who theme
Doctor Who theme music
The Doctor Who theme is a piece of music composed by Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Created in 1963, it was one of the first electronic music signature tunes for television and after nearly five decades remains one of the most easily...
for 18 years) that he is reported to have said on hearing it, "Did I really write that?" - to which Derbyshire responded "well, mostly!" He also offered to split his royalty with her, but this was prevented by BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
bureaucracy.
Grainer composed the music for a number of other ITC productions, including Man in a Suitcase
Man in a Suitcase
Man in a Suitcase is a 1967 television series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.-Origins and overview:Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner...
.
Among his most eclectic film works was the music to The Omega Man
The Omega Man
The Omega Man is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston. It is based on the novel I Am Legend by American writer Richard Matheson...
, based upon the book I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
and starring Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
. The soundtrack was not released on CD until 2002 in a limited run of 3,000 copies. It was remastered and given a general release in 2008, the original occasionally changing hands as a rarity. The music contains a mix of symphonic, jazz, avant garde and electronic music. Grainer's work on The Prisoner may have led to his being hired to score the film. It has been noted that the theme music and incidental music seemed remarkably similar to those of The Prisoner, with alternative notes removed, and the film itself contains visual elements that could be references to, or homage to, The Prisoner. A compilation LP album, The Exciting Television Music of Ron Grainer, appeared in 1980. In 1994, a CD comprising 30 TV and film themes composed by Grainer, The A To Z Of British TV Themes - The Ron Grainer Years, was released by Play It Again
Play It Again (record label)
Play It Again is a British record label formed in Droitwich, Worcestershire, in November 1989, by Geoff Leonard, Gareth Bramley and Pete Walker. Leonard had had an idea of releasing some of John Barry's music on CD in an effort to publicise a book on the musical career of the composer, which he had...
.
One of Grainer's later themes, Tales of the Unexpected
Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)
Tales of the Unexpected is a British television series originally aired between 1979 and 1988, made by Anglia Television for ITV. Filming began in 1978.The series was an anthology of different tales...
, was also to become famous. The light, slightly mocking theme became a hallmark of the series.
Grainer was married twice, first to Margot (one stepdaughter: Rel) and later to Jennifer (1966–76; one son: Damian), whom he divorced in 1976. Grainer died from spinal cancer in Cuckfield
Cuckfield
Cuckfield is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Haywards Heath to the southeast and Burgess...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, aged 58. His second ex-wife was at his side.
Notable television credits
- Danger ManDanger ManDanger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
- Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
- Maigret
- Steptoe and SonSteptoe and SonSteptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old...
- Tales of the UnexpectedTales of the Unexpected (TV series)Tales of the Unexpected is a British television series originally aired between 1979 and 1988, made by Anglia Television for ITV. Filming began in 1978.The series was an anthology of different tales...
- The PrisonerThe PrisonerThe Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
- ShelleyShelley (TV series)Shelley is a British sitcom made by Thames Television and originally broadcast on ITV from 1979 to 1984 and from 1988 to 1992, with occasional hiatuses. Hywel Bennett starred as James Shelley, a sardonic, 28-year-old, anti-establishment postgraduate and career income tax dodger...
- That Was The Week That WasThat Was The Week That WasThat Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
- Paul TemplePaul TemplePaul Temple is a fictional character created by British writer Francis Durbridge for the BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple in 1938. Temple is an amateur private detective and author of crime fiction...
- Man in a SuitcaseMan in a SuitcaseMan in a Suitcase is a 1967 television series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.-Origins and overview:Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner...
(also used on TFI FridayTFI FridayTFI Friday is an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of Guest Presenters. It was broadcast on...
)
Notable film credits
- A Kind of LovingA Kind of Loving (film)A Kind of Loving is a 1962 British drama film directed by John Schlesinger, based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Stan Barstow. It stars Alan Bates and June Ritchie as two lovers in 1960s West Yorkshire. The photography was by Denys Coop, and the music by Ron Grainer...
(1962) - The Mouse on the MoonThe Mouse on the MoonThe Mouse on the Moon is a 1963 British comedy film, an adaptation of the novel The Mouse on the Moon by Irish author Leonard Wibberley. It was directed by Richard Lester and served as the sequel to The Mouse That Roared. In it, the people of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick, a microstate, attempt space...
(1963) - The Home Made CarThe Home Made CarThe Home Made Car is a short film directed by James Hill about a young man who rebuilds a vintage car and finds love. The film was nominated for an Academy Award...
(1963) - Night Must FallNight Must Fall (1964 film)Night Must Fall is a remake of the 1937 film of the same name, which was in turn based on the 1935 play by Emlyn Williams. It was directed by Karel Reisz from a script by Clive Exton and starred Albert Finney, Mona Washbourne, and Susan Hampshire, but was not as successful as the original film...
(1964) - To Sir, with LoveTo Sir, with LoveTo Sir, With Love is a 1967 British drama film starring Sidney Poitier that deals with social and racial issues in an inner city school. James Clavell both directed and wrote the film's screenplay, based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by E. R. Braithwaite.The film's title song...
(1967) - Only When I LarfOnly When I LarfOnly When I Larf is a late 1960s British comic thriller describing the activities of a team of three fictional confidence tricksters led by Silas Lowther , his girlfriend Liz Mason and wannabe apprentice and Liz-worshipper Bob...
(1968) - HoffmanHoffman (film)Hoffman is a 1970 British film directed by Alvin Rakoff and starring Peter Sellers, Sinéad Cusack, Jennifer Ruth Dunning and Jeremy Bulloch....
(1970) - The Omega ManThe Omega ManThe Omega Man is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston. It is based on the novel I Am Legend by American writer Richard Matheson...
(1971) - Mutiny on the BusesMutiny on the BusesMutiny on the Buses is a 1972 British comedy film directed by Harry Booth and starring Reg Varney and Doris Hare. The film is the second spin-off film from the TV sitcom On the Buses and succeeded On the Buses . It was followed by a third film Holiday on the Buses...
(1972) - I Don't Want to Be BornI Don't Want to Be BornI Don't Want to Be Born is a 1975 British horror film, directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Joan Collins, Ralph Bates, Eileen Atkins and Donald Pleasence, which tapped into the 1970s fad for devil-child horror films. The film was originally marketed as a straight-faced and serious product, and as...
(1975) - One AwayOne Away (film)One Away is a 1976 American action film directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Patrick Mower, Bradford Dillman, Roberta Durrant and Elke Sommer. Two brothers help their brother escape from a South African jail, sparking a manhunt.-Cast:* Patrick Mower...
(1976)
Stage credits
- 1964 — Robert and ElizabethRobert and ElizabethRobert and Elizabeth is a musical with music by Ron Grainer and book and lyrics by Ronald Millar. The story is based on an unproduced musical titled The Third Kiss by Judge Fred G. Moritt, which in turn was adapted from the play The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolph Besier...
- 1966 — On the Level
- 1970 — Sing A Rude Song