Fred Karlin

A prolific film composer who staked his claim on both the small screen and the silver screen after winning an Emmy for his score to The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and an Oscar (which he shared with lyricists Robb Royer and James Griffin) for... more

A prolific film composer who staked his claim on both the small screen and the silver screen after winning an Emmy for his score to The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and an Oscar (which he shared with lyricists Robb Royer and James Griffin) for his work on the 1970 comedy Lovers and Other Strangers, Fred Karlin penned the music for well over 100 films in his productive 30-year career. A native of Chicago who took to the trumpet in his early teens, Karlin studied jazz composition alongside Bill Russo before enrolling in Amherst College shortly thereafter. Subsequently working in New York City, the emerging talent arranged for Benny Goodman, among other music notables, with celluloid work following when Karlin began composing music for documentaries and television commercials. Karlin's personal and professional lives collided when he wed Meg Welles in 1963 (he had been serving as musical director for Welles' chamber jazz quintet), and the couple moved to Los Angeles to find film work a few short years after exchanging marriage vows. Of course, there was no lack of film work in Hollywood for a composer of Karlin's caliber, and in 1967, he kicked off his successful cinematic career with the score to the Robert Mulligan drama Up the Down Staircase. An Oscar nomination for The Sterile Cuckoo (1969) was quick to follow, with a double nomination for both The Baby Maker and Lovers and Other Strangers virtually ensuring his win the following year. Karlin's numerous Emmy nominations include such efforts as Minstrel Man, Dadah Is Death, and Survive the Savage Sea. In his later years, Karlin worked almost exclusively on the small screen, remaining very active throughout the 1980s and into the early '90s. In addition to his career in film, Karlin also taught a film-scoring workshop in the 1990s and penned On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring. On March 26, 2004, Fred Karlin died of cancer in Culver City, CA. He was 67. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide less