Kurt at 17:52, 7 February 2023

2023-02-07T17:52:20Z

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 {{Infobox person
-| name               = Ronnie Hazlehurst
+| name               =
-| image              =
+| image              = Ronnie Hazlehurst.jpg
 | caption            =
 | birth_name         = Ronald Hazlehurst
-| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1928|3|13|df=y}}
+| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1928|03|13|df=y}}
 | birth_place        = [[Dukinfield]], [[Cheshire]], England
-| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2007|10|1|1928|3|13|df=y}}
+| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2007|10|01|1928|03|13|df=y}}
 | death_place        = [[St Martin, Guernsey|St Martin]], Guernsey
 | occupation         = {{flatlist|
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 ==External links==
 *{{IMDB name|0372024|name=Ronnie Hazlehurst}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazlehurst, Ronnie}}

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2023-02-03T21:00:52Z

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en>Sroc: /* BBC career */

2023-01-23T11:27:51Z

BBC career

New page

{{Short description|English composer and conductor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ronnie Hazlehurst
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Ronald Hazlehurst
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|3|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Dukinfield]], [[Cheshire]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|10|1|1928|3|13|df=y}}
| death_place = [[St Martin, Guernsey|St Martin]], Guernsey
| occupation = {{flatlist|
*Composer
*conductor
*musical director}}
| years_active = 1947–2006
| known_for = British television theme songs
| title =
| spouse = Jean Fitzgerald
| children = Two
| networth =
| website =
}}

'''Ronald Hazlehurst''' (13 March 1928 – 1 October 2007) was an English [[composer]] and [[conducting|conductor]] who, having joined the [[BBC]] in 1961, became its Light Entertainment Musical Director.

Hazlehurst composed the [[theme music|theme tunes]] for many well-known [[British sitcom]]s and gameshows of the 1970s and the 1980s, including ''[[Yes Minister]]'', ''[[Are You Being Served?]]'', ''[[I Didn't Know You Cared]]'' and ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]''.

==Early life==
Ronald Hazlehurst was born in [[Dukinfield]], [[Cheshire]], in 1928, to a [[rail transport|railway]] worker father and a piano [[teacher]] mother.<ref name="Indy">{{Cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3021298.ece|title=Obituary - Ronnie Hazlehurst|first=Spencer|last=Leigh|work=[[The Independent]]|date=3 October 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102184203/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ronnie-hazlehurst-395793.html|archive-date=2 November 2012}}</ref><ref name="Tele Obit">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/10/04/db0402.xml|title=Obituary - Ronnie Hazlehurst|first=Spencer|last=Leigh|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=4 October 2007}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Having attended [[Hyde Clarendon Sixth Form College|Hyde County Grammar School]], he left at the age of 14 and became a [[clerk (position)|clerk]] in a [[cotton mill]] for £1 a week.<ref name="Indy"/><ref name="Tele Obit"/> From 1947 to 1949 he did his [[National service#United Kingdom|National Service]] as a [[band (music)|bandsman]] in the [[4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards]].<ref name="Tele Obit"/>

During his spare time, he played in a band, and soon became a professional musician earning £4 a week.<ref name="Indy"/> The band appeared on the [[BBC Light Programme]], but Hazlehurst left when he was refused a pay rise.<ref name="Indy"/> Moving to [[Manchester]], he became a [[Freelancer|freelance]] musician until he was offered a place in another band at a nightclub in London.<ref name="Indy"/> Ronnie Hazlehurst worked at [[Granada Productions|Granada]] for about a year in 1955 and, after he left there, worked on a market stall in [[Watford]] to make ends meet.<ref name="Indy"/><ref name="Tele Obit"/>

==BBC career==
Hazlehurst joined the BBC in 1961, and became a staff arranger; his early works included the [[incidental music]] for ''[[The Likely Lads]]'', ''[[The Liver Birds]]'' and ''[[It's a Knockout]]''.<ref name="Indy"/><ref name="Times">{{Cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2576976.ece|title=Obituary - Ronnie Hazlehurst|work=The Times|date=3 October 2007}}</ref> In 1968 he became the Light Entertainment Musical Director and, during his tenure, he composed the theme tunes of many sitcoms, including ''[[Are You Being Served?]]''; ''[[Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em]]''; ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]'' (where he also wrote all the instrumental music for the show); ''[[I Didn't Know You Cared]]''; ''[[The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin]]''; ''[[To the Manor Born]]''; ''[[Yes, Minister]]''; ''[[Yes, Prime Minister]]''; ''[[Just Good Friends]]''; and ''[[Three Up, Two Down]]''.<ref name="Indy"/><ref name="Times"/><ref name="BBC"/><ref name="Telegraph">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1565028/Ronnie-Hazlehurst.html|title=TV tunes composer Ronnie Hazlehurst dies, 79|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=3 October 2007}}</ref> He also arranged the themes for ''[[Butterflies (TV series)|Butterflies]]'', ''[[Sorry! (TV series)|Sorry!]]'', and the first series of ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]''.<ref name="Times"/> In addition, he wrote the theme tunes for the sketch show ''[[The Two Ronnies]]'', the game shows ''[[Blankety Blank]]'', ''[[Odd One Out]]'' and [[Bruce Forsyth]]'s ''[[The Generation Game]]'' and the chat show ''[[Wogan]]''.<ref name="Indy"/><ref name="Times"/>
His theme tunes often included elements designed to fit the programmes, such as a [[Cash register|cash till]] in ''Are You Being Served?'', rises and falls in ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' and the [[Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster|Big Ben]] chimes for ''Yes Minister''.<ref name="Indy"/><ref name="Tele Obit"/> For ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', Hazlehurst used [[Morse code]] to spell out the programme's title.<ref name="BBC"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7026637.stm|title=Does the Frank Spencer music have Morse code?|publisher=BBC Magazine|date=4 October 2007}}</ref> During his BBC career he composed the music for the opening of the BBC's coverage of the [[1976 Summer Olympics|1976 Olympics]].<ref name="Indy"/> He left the BBC in the 1990s.<ref name="Tele Obit"/>

==Other work==
Hazlehurst was also involved with the [[Eurovision Song Contest]] and was the musical director when the event was hosted by the [[United Kingdom]] in [[Eurovision Song Contest 1974|1974]], [[Eurovision Song Contest 1977|1977]] and [[Eurovision Song Contest 1982|1982]].<ref name="Indy"/> He also conducted the [[United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest|British entry]] on seven occasions, in 1977, 1982, [[Eurovision Song Contest 1987|1987]], [[Eurovision Song Contest 1988|1988]], [[Eurovision Song Contest 1989|1989]], [[Eurovision Song Contest 1991|1991]] and [[Eurovision Song Contest 1992|1992]].<ref name="BBC">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7023501.stm|title=Theme tune writer Hazlehurst dies|publisher=BBC|date=2 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="Carlton">{{Cite book|last=O'Connor|first=John Kennedy|authorlink=John Kennedy O'Connor |title =The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History|publisher=[[Carlton Books]]|date=2007| location=[[United Kingdom|UK]]|isbn=978-1-84442-994-3}}</ref> In 1977, as well as conducting the British entry, he also conducted the [[Telegram (song)|German entry]].<ref name="Times"/><ref name="Carlton"/> To conduct the British entry that year, [[Lynsey de Paul]] and [[Mike Moran (music producer)|Mike Moran]], he used a closed [[umbrella]] instead of a baton and wore a [[bowler hat]].<ref name="Tele Obit"/><ref name="Times"/>

He also arranged and conducted two singers' performances of their voice-overs for opening credits, [[Clare Torry]] for ''[[Butterflies (TV series)|Butterflies]]'' ("[[Love Is like a Butterfly]]") and [[Paul Nicholas]] for ''[[Just Good Friends]]''.<ref name="Indy"/>

He also recorded some LPs and CDs with his orchestra including a 2-CD box set of [[Laurel and Hardy]] film music; his orchestra also backed singer [[Marti Caine]] on an album that was released on CD.

==Later years==
Hazlehurst moved from [[Hendon]], [[North London]], to [[Guernsey]] in about 1997.<ref name="BBC"/> In 1999, he was awarded a Gold Badge from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters.<ref name="BBC"/>

Music was Hazlehurst's life and passion as well as his work and he continued to work right up to his [[Coronary artery bypass surgery|heart bypass operation]] in October 2006.<ref name="BBC"/> On 27 September 2007 he suffered a [[stroke]] and, without regaining consciousness, died on 1 October in Princess Elizabeth Hospital, [[St Martin, Guernsey|St Martin]], [[Guernsey]].<ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="Express">{{Cite news|title=Last of the Summer Wine composer dies|publisher=[[Daily Express]]|date=3 October 2007}}</ref> Having been married twice, with two sons from his second marriage, at the time of his death his partner was Jean Fitzgerald.<ref name="BBC"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDB name|0372024|name=Ronnie Hazlehurst}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before={{flagicon|Luxembourg}} [[Pierre Cao]]
| title=[[Eurovision Song Contest|Eurovision Song Contest conductor]]
| years=[[Eurovision Song Contest 1974|1974]]
| after={{flagicon|Sweden}} [[Mats Olsson (musician)|Mats Olsson]]
}}
{{succession box
| before={{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Jan Stulen]]
| title=[[Eurovision Song Contest|Eurovision Song Contest conductor]]
| years=[[Eurovision Song Contest 1977|1977]]
| after={{flagicon|France}} [[François Rauber]]
}}
{{ succession box
| before={{flagicon|Ireland}} [[Noel Kelehan]]
| title=[[Eurovision Song Contest|Eurovision Song Contest conductor]]
| years=[[Eurovision Song Contest 1982|1982]]
| after={{flagicon|Germany}} [[Dieter Reith]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazlehurst, Ronnie}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:BBC people]]
[[Category:English conductors (music)]]
[[Category:British male conductors (music)]]
[[Category:Eurovision Song Contest conductors]]
[[Category:English television composers]]
[[Category:English male composers]]
[[Category:People from Dukinfield]]
[[Category:20th-century British conductors (music)]]
[[Category:20th-century British male musicians]]

Ronnie Hazlehurst - Revision history

Kurt at 17:52, 7 February 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Sroc: /* BBC career */