Composer Mauro Bruno dies at 78

Emmy-nominated composer for TV and film

October 3, 2002

By JON BURLINGAME

Mauro Bruno, Emmy-nominated composer for TV and films, died of lung cancer Oct. 3 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. He was 78.

His Emmy nomination came in 1984 as music arranger for "The Magic of David Copperfield VI," although he was best-known for his scores for such 1970s copshows as "Barnaby Jones," "The Streets of San Francisco" and "Police Story."

Boston native studied trumpet and piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore and graduated from Catholic U. in Washington, D.C., with a degree in composition.

During the late '40s and early '50s, he played trumpet with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington. He also arranged music for the inaugural balls of Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.

In the late '50s and early '60s, Bruno became an arranger-conductor, first in Las Vegas and then in Los Angeles, working on acts for Ray Bolger, Gene Barry, Lorne Greene, Pinky Lee and Michael Landon, and writing arrangements for recordings by the Platters and Tina Turner.

He orchestrated for many TV composers in the '60s before becoming a screen-credited composer in his own right. He scored "The Rivalry," a 1975 "Hallmark Hall of Fame" special, and several low-budget films including "Independence Day" (1976), "Paco" (1976) and "J.D. and the Salt Flat Kid" (1978).

Bruno composed the theme and music for three seasons of daytime TV's "Hour Magazine" in the 1980s. He also wrote two dozen classical works, several of which were recorded, among them a concerto for alto saxophone. He was honored in 2000 by the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers, and served on its board for several years.

His wife Betty died June 20. He is survived by a son, stepson, four grandchildren, three sisters and a brother.

A rosary is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at St. Francis DeSales Church in Sherman Oaks.