Robert O. Ragland


Robert Oliver Ragland was an American film score composer, best known for his soundtracks to numerous genre films ranging from blaxploitation, to horror, to monster movies, to thrillers and action films. Throughout his career, he worked with cult filmmakers including William Girdler, Menahem Golan, Larry Cohen, and J. Lee Thompson.

Biography

Ragland was born in Chicago. He attended Northwestern University and also earned degrees at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He served as a music arranger for the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in his early years.
Outside of scoring music for film and television, he often served as a music arranger and orchestrator for singers including Marvin Gaye and Pat Boone and rock bands including Nelson and Dokken. Ragland was married to Martha Montgomery Newman from 1972-2005 after the death of her husband, nine time Oscar winning composer Alfred Newman.
He died, aged 80, in April 2012 in Los Angeles at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Selected filmography

Composer