Edwin Astley
| Edwin "Ted" Astley | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 April 1922 Warrington, Lancashire, UK |
| Died | 19 May 1998 (aged 76) Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire UK |
Edwin Astley (1922–1998) was a British composer, occasionally credited as Ted Astley. His best known works are British television themes and scores, most notably the theme to The Saint, and Danger Man. He also successfully diversified into symphonic pop and an arrangement of his Saint theme reached number five in the UK Singles Chart when it was re recorded by Orbital.
Astley was born in Warrington, Lancashire to Lawrence Astley and Mary Alice Pester, he served in the Second World War as a musician in the Royal Army Service Corps band playing saxophone and clarinet for the troops.
Astley married Hazel Balbirnie in 1945. Their eldest daughter Karen Astley married Pete Townshend of The Who, and their son Jon Astley produced and remastered The Who's reissues. Daughter Virginia Astley is a singer-songwriter.
In the early 1950s Astley was arranging for Geraldo, and his song "I Never Could Tell" was recorded by both Vera Lynn and Richard Tauber. His own band, the Ted Astley Orchestra, became well known in the north of England, and he wrote songs for performers such as Anne Shelton.
He wrote music for many British television series of the 1950s and 1960s, including incidental music for The Champions, and the title music to The Adventures of Robin Hood (but not the famous closing theme song), Danger Man (known as Secret Agent in the USA, where his theme music was replaced by a theme with lyrics),Department S, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Saint, Gideon's Way and The Baron. Most of these programmes were made by ITC Entertainment.
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