1:06 pm PST 1/23/2021
in
Trilby Beresford
The Oscar nominee also made music for ‘Happy Days’ and ‘Mork and Mindy’ and arranged for Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman”.
Perry Botkin Jr., the prolific film and TV composer, arranger and producer known for his themes for Happy Days, Mork and Mindy and Young people and the restless – a song forever associated with the famous Olympic gymnast Nadia Comăneci – died. He was 87 years old.
Botkin died on Monday at the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, his publicist announced. No cause of death was provided.
His career spanned four decades and also included work for other TV shows like Laverne and Shirley, Adam’s rib, The Smothers Brothers Show and Quark.
Iconic Botkin theme for the CBS novel Young people and the restless was renamed “Nadia’s Theme” when ABC’s Wide World of Sports used it on a montage during the 1976 Summer Olympics, where Romanian Comăneci, then 14, scored several perfect 10s on his way to three gold medals. The track earned Botkin a Grammy for best instrumental arrangement in 1977.
Also among his credits were “Wichita Lineman”, a great success for Glen Campbell, and “Rhythm of the Rain “, which The Cascades took to third place on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963.
He made tracks for films like They only kill their masters (1972), Skyjacked (1972), Going south (1978), Tarzan the Monkey Man (1981) and Bless beasts and children (1971), for which he received the award for best original song at the Oscars for the title song performed by the Carpenters.
Botkin also worked as an arranger with producers like Phil Spector and Van Dyke Parks and with artists like Dory Previn, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Darin, Jack Jones, Peggy Lee, The Association, The Everly Brothers, The Supremes, The Ronettes , Connie Stevens, Jose Feliciano, Bobby Gentry and Paul Williams.
Botkin and business partner George Tipton discovered singer and songwriter Harry Nilsson, who worked at a bank at the time, and signed his first publishing contract with him.
Born in New York, Botkin began his career as a trombonist in a high school jazz quartet alongside John Williams, the now legendary film composer. In 1955, he joined a vocal group called The Cheers, which was successful with “Black Denim Trousers”.
Her father, Perry Botkin Sr., composed the underline for The Beverly Hillbillies and played guitar and banjo in the Bing Crosby band, also appearing in several films with him. In 1956, father and son starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
His other projects included composing commercial jingles for American Airlines, Baskin Robbins, Chevron and Mattel.
Botkin’s music was recently heard on the soundtrack of the 2017 action thriller Baby driver.
He leaves his wife Liza, son David and grandson Daniel Tyler Botkin.