Earle Hagen; Composed Themes to 'Andy Griffith' And Other TV Classics

In 1941, Mr. Hagen became a staff musician for CBS, but the next year he enlisted in the military.

After the war, he worked as a composer and orchestrator for 20th Century-Fox studios on dozens of movies, including another Monroe classic, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

In the 1950s, he and Herbert Spencer formed an orchestra partnership that also wrote music for television, including scoring the Danny Thomas hit "Make Room for Daddy."

Later, he worked as musical director for producer Sheldon Leonard, sometimes working on as many of five shows a week.

One of his more notable TV scoring efforts was for the 1960s adventure series "I Spy," starring Bill Cosby and Robert Culp.

Because the show used exotic locations worldwide, Mr. Hagen often included ethnic touches in the incidental music, among them hiring Greek musicians to play for some episodes that took place in Greece.

After retiring from TV work in 1986, Mr. Hagen taught a workshop on film and television scoring.

He also wrote three books on scoring, including 1971's "Scoring for Films," one of the earliest textbooks on the subject. His 2002 autobiography was titled "Memoirs of a Famous Composer -- Nobody Ever Heard Of."

Besides his wife, Mr. Hagen is survived by his sons, Deane and James, both of Palm Desert, Calif.; stepchildren Rebecca Roberts of Irvine, Calif., Richard Roberts of Los Angeles and Rachael Roberts of Irvine; and four grandchildren. His first wife, Elouise Hagen, died in 2002 after 59 years of marriage.