Frederick James Karlin was an American composer of more than 130 scores for feature films and television movies. He also was an accomplished trumpeter adept at playing jazz, blues, classical, rock, and medieval music.
Following graduation from college, Karlin moved to New York City. He composed and arranged for various bands, including those of Benny Goodman, Harry James, and Chubby Jackson. During this period he also composed and arranged for documentary films, the Radio City Music Hall orchestra, and television commercials. In 1962, Karlin scored a record album for Columbia of extracts from the comic stripPeanuts, performed by actress Kaye Ballard as Lucy and songwriter Arthur Siegel as Charlie Brown. The innovative score was performed by Karlin entirely on children's musical instruments and toys.
Film and television
Karlin began his film career with Up the Down Staircase in 1967. Following in quick succession were Yours, Mine and Ours, The Stalking Moon, The Sterile Cuckoo, The Baby Maker, Cover Me Babe and Lovers and Other Strangers. For the latter he wrote the music for the song "For All We Know", which won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Original Song and was a Top 10 hit for The Carpenters. The Sandpiperscharted with another of his compositions, "Come Saturday Morning". Other Karlin scores were nominated for three Academy Awards, including one for the movie The Little Ark in 1972, his wife, Marsha, was also nominated for the same film. His other film scores included The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker, Believe in Me, Every Little Crook and Nanny, Westworld, The Spikes Gang, Chosen Survivors, The Gravy Train, Mixed Company, Mastermind, Baby Blue Marine, Futureworld, Greased Lightning, Mean Dog Blues, California Dreaming, Ravagers, Cloud Dancer and Loving Couples. However the bulk of Karlin's work was in television. His compositions were nominated for the Emmy Award eleven times, and he won for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman in 1974. Other TV films included The Man Who Could Talk to Kids, Born Innocent, Bad Ronald, The Dream Makers, ', ', The Death of Richie, Minstrel Man, The Hostage Heart, Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A., Lucan, ', Vampire, ', Miracle on Ice, Bitter Harvest, Inside the Third Reich, Baby Sister, Dadah Is Death, Murder C.O.D., Her Wicked Ways and The Secret.
Author
Karlin wrote three books about film composition, On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring, Listening to Movies: The Film Lover's Guide to Film Music, and 100 Great Film Scores, which was published posthumously in 2005. He also wrote a reference book detailing and cataloguing the thousands of recordings the Edison Company distributed between 1914 and 1929. On the Track has been considered highly influential and authoritative for film and TV composers.
Karlin married musician and musicologist Margaret "Meg" Anne Karlin in 1963. They recorded three albums together. The couple had two daughters, Wendy Karlin and Kathryn Velasquez, and two sons, Eric and Kristopher ; and four grandchildren. Kristopher's death was a great blow to Fred. Fred Karlin died at age 67 of cancer in Culver City, California. His widow Meg died July 31, 2016, in West Hollywood, California.
