Legemdary Composer Dies

By Dennis McLellan 7:01 PM PST, November 19, 2008

Irving Gertz, a film and television composer who contributed music to 1950s science-fiction films such as "It Came From Outer Space" and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and to 1960s TV series such as "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," has died. He was 93.

Gertz died Friday at his home in West Los Angeles, said David Schecter, a record producer and film-music historian who was a close friend. No specific cause of death was given.

From the late 1940s to the late '60s, Gertz wrote music for about 200 movies and television episodes. Among his film credits are "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy," "Francis Joins the WACS," "The Alligator People," "The Monolith Monsters," "The Creature Walks Among Us," "Overland Pacific," "To Hell and Back," "The Thing That Couldn't Die" and "Flaming Star."

Among his TV credits were "Daniel Boone," "The Invaders," "Land of the Giants," "Peyton Place" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea."