Background
Richard Markowitz was born in Los Angeles,
California on Sept. 3, 1926; after graduating from
Santa Monica High School he attended the Los
Angeles Conservatory of Music (1946-48), the Ecole
Normale de Musique in Paris (1948-50); he studied
composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ernst
Krenek, Arnold Schoenberg, Arthur Honneger, and
later, George Tremblay. Markowitz began his
career in professional music as a dance band
leader, pianist, and singer in the 1940's and
early 1950's, working both live and on records; as
a composer and arranger he worked for the BBC and
the Katharine Dunham Ballet Company between 1950
and 1955. Markowitz began his film and television
career in the late 1950's and his work includes
music for the following: The Wild, Wild West
(theme), The Hot Angel, Cry of Battle (feature
film scores), television series Barnaby Jones, The
Streets of San Francisco, Hawaii Five-O, Quincy,
Police Story, and over 50 episodes for the
long-running series Murder She Wrote. Richard
Markowitz died on December 6, 1994 in Santa
Monica.
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