Perry Botkin Jr., the Grammy-winning composer behind the theme song for “The Young and the Restless”, died on Monday, confirmed his publicist. He was 87 years old.
A TV and film composer whose work dominated the 60s and 70s, Botkin composed and arranged theme songs and soundtracks for successful series like “Happy Days”, “Laverne & Shirley”, “Mork & Mindy” and “The Smothers Brothers Show. “
The theme song for “The Young and the Restless”, better known as “Nadia’s Theme” for its association with Olympic gymnast Nadia Comăneci, was an original rearrangement of a play he co-wrote with Barry De Vorzon and later yielded to him a Grammy award for best instrumental arrangement.
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In the film, Botkin’s credits include “Goin ‘South”, “Skyjacked”, “Tarzan the Ape Man”, “They Only Kill Their Masters” and “Bless the Beasts and Children” from 1971, for which he received “Best Song” Original “Oscar nomination for the title song performed by the Carpenters.
Botkin has also collaborated with several other artists, including Glen Campbell, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Darin, Jack Jones, Peggy Lee, The Everly Brothers, The Carpenters, The Supremes, The Ronettes, Jose Feliciano and Paul Williams.
More recently, Botkin’s music was included on the “Baby Driver” soundtrack.
Botkin leaves his wife Liza, his son David and his grandson Daniel Tyler.