Vic Mizzy

Composer of Classic TV Theme Songs

America composer, pianist, harpsichordist and singer. Born: Jan 9, 1916 in Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A. Died: Oct 17, 2009 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A. Married to singer Mary Small. He was a prolific composer for TV and movies, and his now best-known works are the themes to the 1960s television sitcoms "Green Acres" and "The Addams Family". Vic played piano from the age of 13 in the orchestra of his high school consisting of musicians who later on became top studio players. At 14, he met Irving Taylor, also from Brooklyn, who became his lyric partner and collaborator for many years. Vic entered N.Y.U. at age 16 and together with Taylor started writing songs and sketches for various variety shows. Their continued their writing together after enlisting in the army, having 6 charted hits together from 1938 to 1944. His next writing parter was Manny Kurtz (Mann Curtis), with whom he had 10 charted songs from 1944-1954. All told, Mizzy's charted 16 times on the U.S. charts--the first in 1938 and the last in 1991. He had a #1 song in the U.S. in 1945 with "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" by Les Brown and His Orchestra (co-written by Manny Curtis). The song also reached #3 that same year by Johnny Long and His Orchestra as well as by the Phil Moore Four. He never had an agent and has always negotiated his own contracts. He still holds the publishing rights for his work.