John Cacavas facts for kids
John Harry Cacavas (born August 13, 1930 – died January 28, 2014) was an American composer and conductor. He was famous for creating music for many TV shows and movies. You might know his work from shows like Kojak and The Time Machine. He even wrote the second main theme song for Kojak in its last season.
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Early Life and Musical Beginnings
John Cacavas was born in 1930 in Aberdeen, South Dakota. His father came from Greece, and his mother was from North Dakota. John had a twin sister, Jeanne, and other siblings.
From a young age, John showed a great talent for music. When he was just 14, he started his own local band. By age 16, he had formed a school dance band called "The Golden Blues."
After high school, John studied musical composition at Northwestern University. During his time in the military, he worked as an arranger for the United States Army Band in Washington, D.C. There, he met Charles Osgood, who later became a famous radio and TV commentator. They worked together on music projects.
A Career in Composing
In the 1960s, John Cacavas and Charles Osgood teamed up again. They worked on a recording for US Senator Everett Dirksen. This recording, called Gallant Men, even won a Grammy Award!
While working in London in the 1970s, Cacavas met actor Telly Savalas. Savalas later helped John get into composing music for movies. Cacavas wrote the music for Savalas's 1972 horror film Horror Express.
Composing for Television
After moving to Hollywood, John Cacavas became a very busy composer for TV shows and movies made for television. His most well-known work was for the series Kojak (1973-1978). He was the main composer for the show. He even wrote the second main theme song for Kojak during its final season.
John's music was heard in many other popular TV series. These include Hawaii Five-O, The Bionic Woman, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
He also composed for many TV movies. Some of these were The Elevator (1974), The Time Machine (1978), and The Executioner's Song (1982). He worked with his friend Telly Savalas again on the TV movie Hellinger's Law (1981). John also scored Savalas's Dirty Dozen sequel movies.
Later in his career, he composed for popular miniseries. These included Jenny's War (1985) and Perfect Murder, Perfect Town (2000).
Film Scores
While John Cacavas did a lot of TV work, he also composed music for several movies. His most famous film scores were for two movies in the Airport series: Airport 1975 and Airport '77.
He also composed for the horror film The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973). This movie starred famous actors Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Other film scores included Hangar 18 (1980) and Mortuary (1983).
Other Musical Works
John Cacavas is also known for his "Flute Poem." In Canada, this piece of music was used as the opening for Hinterland Who's Who. This was a series of public service announcements about Canadian wild animals.
Beyond TV and movies, John Cacavas also wrote and arranged many music scores for school bands and music students. His compositions are listed by well-known music publishers.
Later Life and Legacy
In his later years, John Cacavas wrote a book about his life. It was his autobiography called It's More than Do-Re-Mi: My Life in Music (2004).
He lived in Beverly Hills, California, and London, UK, with his wife, Bonetta Becker Cacavas. John loved cooking and was a very skilled chef. They had three children: Lisa, John, and Jennifer. He also had three grandchildren.
