Ben Lanzarone, Pianist and Composer for ‘Dynasty’ and ‘Happy Days,’ Dies at 85

Ben Lanzarone, the composer, arranger, musical director and pianist who wrote music for such shows as Dynasty, Happy Days, Mr. Belvedere and The Tracey Ullman Show, has died. He was 85.

Lanzarone died Friday in his Los Angeles home of lung cancer, his family announced.

The Brooklyn native toured with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Art Garfunkel, Mary Travers, Anthony Newley, Petula Clark, Lainie Kazan and Mason Williams and for Broadway served as the musical director on the original 1972-80 production of Grease and arranger on 1972’s Via Galactica and 1975’s Truckload.

His long association with TV producers Aaron Spelling and Douglas S. Cramer resulted in scores for Dynasty, The Colbys, The Love Boat, Vega$, Matt Houston and Hotel.

And for production companies led by Thomas Miller, Edward Milkis and/or Bob Boyett, he came up with music for episodes of Happy Days (including the one in 1977 when Henry Winkler’s Fonzie “jumped the shark”), Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy.

It was for composing television scores that won Lanzarone the prestigious Most Performed Composer Award from ASCAP in 1986.

Born on Oct. 28, 1938, Benjamin Anthony Lanzarone graduated from the famed High School of Music and Art in New York and earned a double master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He began as a classical pianist, traveling the country as a soloist with the Longines Symphonette and making his solo debut at Carnegie Recital Hall.

Lanzarone moved into the world of popular music when he began working with songwriter Bob Crewe and composer Charles Fox. That led to Lanzarone’s album In Classic Form, which showcased his talent as a classical and jazz pianist. (He was billed as Bhen Lanzaroni on the LP.)

Lanzarone went on to arrange music for many Crewe productions, including recordings for Bobby Darin, Vikki Carr and The Bob Crewe Generation, and for such other artists as Peter Nero, Vicki Sue Robinson and the disco group The Brothers.

He worked on the soundtrack for Grease (1978) and arranged and composed jingles for more than 1,000 commercials, records and soundtracks.

He and his wife of 46 years, actress-singer Ilene Graff (Mr. Belvedere, Broadway’s Promises, Promises), enjoyed a professional relationship that spanned stage, screen, concerts, recordings and a Grammy nomination for their 2003 album, Baby’s Broadway Lullabies. They also taught a workshop called Making the Song Your Own.

And with their daughter, Broadway veteran Nikka Graff Lanzarone, they created and performed cabaret shows in New York and Los Angeles.

She paid tribute to him with a post on Instagram.