Television composer Allyn Ferguson died 23 June 2010 of natural causes. Born Allyn Malcolm Ferguson Jr., on 18 October 1924, in San Jose, California, he won an Emmy Award in 1985 for composing for Hallmark Hall of Fame: Camille. He was also nominated for Emmys in 1982 (Ivanhoe), 1984 (Master of the Game), 1986 (The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts), 1987 (The Last Days of Patton), 1988 (Hallmark Hall of Fame: April Morning), and 1989 (Pancho Barnes). His best-remembered work will probably be the themes for the series Barney Miller and Charlie’s Angels, which he co-wrote with Jack Elliott (who died in 2001).
His genre work includes: Back to the Secret Garden (2001), Dune (1984), Computercide (1982), Turnabout (1979), The Magnificent Magical Magnet of Santa Mesa (1977), Bewitched (1965), The Haunting of Helen Walker (1965), and The Devil’s Hand (1962).
Ferguson began studying trumpet at the age of 4, and piano when he was 7. He earned a BA and an MA in music from San Jose State University, and studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Aaron Copland at Tanglewood.
He is survived by his wife, Joline Clary, two sons, six grandchildren, and his sister.