Ted Nichols

Last updated
Ted Nichols
Birth nameTheodore Nicholas Sflotsos
Born (1928-10-02) October 2, 1928 (age 95)
Missoula, Montana
Occupation(s) Composer
Years active1950s–2012

Theodore Nicholas Sflotsos (born October 2, 1928), known professionally as Ted Nichols, is an American composer, conductor, arranger, educator, and minister of music. He is best known for his work at Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1963 to 1972, where he composed scores for various shows produced by the studio such as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! , Space Ghost , Birdman and the Galaxy Trio , and Josie and the Pussycats , among others.

Contents

Early life

He was born Theodore Nicholas Sflotsos in Missoula, Montana, in 1928 the only child of Nicholas Theodore Sflotsos (first generation Greek immigrant) and Josephine Ellen (Schomer) Sflotsos. He was raised in the Greek Orthodox church, later becoming an evangelical. His parents moved to Spokane, Washington, where he graduated from John R. Rogers High School. He then joined the navy, where he was trained as an aviation electrician. During specialist training in Jacksonville, Florida, he played saxophone in the navy swing band, he also plays the violin and clarinet. He was later transferred to Corpus Christi, Texas, where he founded, directed and played in the base swing band. In 1948, he legally changed his name to Ted Nichols.

Education and career

After leaving the navy, Nichols attended Baylor University received his bachelor's degree in 1952. In response to the Korean War, he joined the Air Force ROTC program. Upon graduation, the air force sent him to Sampson Air Force Base in New York where he founded and then became Commanding Officer of the Air Force Bandsmen Training School, recruiting musicians from Eastman School of Music, Juilliard School, and other Eastern music schools.

After the military service, Nichols returned to Corpus Christi, founded and directed the Corpus Christi Youth Symphony while teaching in public school, and earning his master's degree at Texas A&I University. Wanting to work on a doctorate and having a desire to compose for films, Nichols and family moved to California.

In the mid-1950s, Nichols began work in public schools in California before moving onto Santa Ana College as band director (1958–60). He became a "Dapper Dan" barbershop-style singer at Disneyland, and occasionally joined Walt Disney for coffee on Main Street. [1]

Nichols served as Minister of Music (1960–72) at Church of the Open Door (4,000 attendance on Sunday mornings) while J. Vernon McGee was Senior Pastor. From 1972 to 1975 Nichols became Musical Director of Campus Crusade for Christ.

While Nichols served at the Church of the Open Door, a choir member introduced Nichols to studio co-founder William Hanna. This led to Nichols serving as musical director at Hanna-Barbera from 1963 to 1972. [1] He co-wrote the score for the first incarnation of Jonny Quest alongside longtime composer Hoyt Curtin, and would later write musical cues and arrangements for Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! , Josie and the Pussycats , season 6 of The Flintstones , Shazzan , Birdman and the Galaxy Trio , The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Space Ghost , and the full-length feature The Man Called Flintstone (1966). During this time, Nichols wrote film scores for World Wide Pictures.

Nichols has written or composed music for several operas.

Personal life

He met Doris Jane Carson in Corpus Christi, Texas, while in the navy. They married in 1950, and have two sons and one daughter. Doris died in 2009. He married Catherine, Doris's younger sister, in 2011. She died in 2020. He is retired in Auburn, Washington.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanna-Barbera</span> American animation studio

Hanna-Barbera was an American animation studio and production company, active from 1957 until it absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation in 2001, founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's decision to close its in-house cartoon studio, formerly headquartered on Cahuenga Blvd from 1960 until 1998 and at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Sherman Oaks, both in Los Angeles, California.

<i>The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show</i> U.S. animated television series (1971–72)

The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that originally aired for one season on CBS Saturday morning from September 11, 1971, to January 1, 1972. With an ensemble voice cast of Sally Struthers, Jay North, Mitzi McCall, Gay Hartwig, Carl Esser and Lennie Weinrib, the show follows teenage Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble as they encounter problems growing up in the fictional town of Bedrock. The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show is the first spin-off series of The Flintstones. For the 1972–73 season, the show was revamped as The Flintstone Comedy Hour, with more time given to the original Flintstones cast alongside both reruns and newly produced segments of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Messick</span> American voice actor (1926–1997)

Donald Earle Messick was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

<i>Josie and the Pussycats</i> (comics) Teen-oriented comic book

Josie and the Pussycats is a teen-humor comic book about a fictional rock band, created by Dan DeCarlo and published by Archie Comics. It was published from 1963 until 1982; since then, one-shot issues have appeared on an irregular basis. A second series, set in the New Riverdale universe, launched in September 2016.

<i>Josie and the Pussycats</i> (TV series) American animated television series

Josie and the Pussycats is an American animated television series based upon the Archie Comics comic book series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo. Produced for Saturday morning television by Hanna-Barbera Productions, 16 episodes of Josie and the Pussycats aired on CBS during the 1970–71 television season and were rerun during the 1971–72 season.

<i>Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels</i> Television series

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels is an American animated mystery comedy series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC. The series aired during the network's Saturday morning schedule from September 10, 1977, to June 21, 1980. All 40 episodes are available on the Boomerang subscription app.

<i>Jabberjaw</i> American animated television series (1976)

Jabberjaw is an American animated television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired 16 original episodes on ABC from September 11 to December 18, 1976. Reruns continued on ABC until September 3, 1978.

Hoyt Stoddard Curtin was an American composer and music producer, the primary musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with The Ruff & Reddy Show in 1957 until his retirement in 1986, except from 1965 to 1972, when the primary music director was Ted Nichols.

Hanna-Barbera's Superstars 10 is a series of 10 syndicated made-for-television animated films produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions as part of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera programming block from 1987 to 1988, featuring the studio's popular animated characters: Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Huckleberry Hound and Top Cat. The first 8 films used traditional cels, while the last 2 films used digital ink and paint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USA Cartoon Express</span> American television programming block

The USA Cartoon Express was a programming block consisting of animated children's series which aired on the USA Network from September 20, 1982 to September 15, 1996. Cartoon Express was the first structured animation block on cable television, predating Nickelodeon's Nicktoons and Cartoon Network by a decade.

<i>Jeannie</i> (TV series) 1973 American animated television series

Jeannie is an American animated television series that originally aired for a 16-episode season on CBS from September 8 to December 22, 1973. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera in association with Screen Gems, and its founders William Hanna and Joseph Barbera are the executive producers. Despite being a spin-off of sorts of the television sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie has little in common with its parent show. In this version, the title character is rescued on the beaches of southern California by a high school student, Corey Anders. Jeannie is accompanied by genie-in-training Babu, and they become companions to Corey and his best friend, Henry Glopp, both of whom also help Jeannie and Babu adjust to their new home as well as life in Los Angeles. The series was marketed towards a younger demographic than I Dream of Jeannie.

<i>Speed Buggy</i> American television series

Speed Buggy is an American animated television series, produced by Hanna-Barbera, which originally aired for one season on CBS from September 8, 1973, to December 22, 1973. With the voices of Mel Blanc, Michael Bell, Arlene Golonka, and Phil Luther Jr., the show follows an orange anthropomorphic dune buggy who alongside teenagers Debbie, Mark, and Tinker, solves mysteries while participating in racing competitions around the world. The series was produced by Iwao Takamoto, executive produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and directed by Charles A. Nichols.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Corden</span> American actor (1920–2005)

Henry Corden was a Canadian-born American actor, best known for taking over the role of Fred Flintstone after Alan Reed's death in 1977. His official debut as Fred's new voice was in a 1965 Hanna-Barbera record, Saving Mr. Flintstone, although he had previously provided the singing voice for Reed in the 1966 theatrical film The Man Called Flintstone and the Hanna-Barbera specials Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid like You Doing in a Place like This? (1966) and Energy: A National Issue (1977). He took over the role as Fred Flintstone full time starting with the syndicated weekday series Fred Flintstone and Friends for which he provided voice-overs on brief bumper clips shown in-between segments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Dexter</span> American actor

Jerry Dexter was an American actor and radio presenter best known for playing teenage boys and young men in animated television series for Hanna-Barbera Productions from the late 1960s to the 1980s.

<i>Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!</i> American animated television series

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is an American animated comedy television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. The series premiered as part of the network's Saturday morning cartoon schedule on September 13, 1969, and aired for two seasons until October 31, 1970. In 1978, a selection of episodes from the later animated series Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics and The Scooby-Doo Show were aired on ABC under the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! title name, and was released in a DVD set marketed as its third season. It also aired on BBC One in the UK from 1970 to 1973. The complete series is also available on Boomerang, Max, and Tubi streaming services.

Charles August "Nick" Nichols was an American animator and film director, who worked in animation for over 50 years at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Hanna-Barbera. At Disney, he worked on various short subjects and films from the 1940s into the 1950s, including the Academy Award-winning short Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953). Nichols co-directed Charlotte's Web (1973) while at Hanna-Barbera.

Tooncast is a Latin American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its International division. It was launched on December 1, 2008; its programming consists of classical animation, both from Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network. The channel is a commercial-free service.

<i>Laff-A-Lympics</i> American animated television series

Laff-A-Lympics is an American animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series premiered as part of the Saturday-morning cartoon program block Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics which consists of 24 episodes, on ABC in 1977. The show is a spoof of the Olympics and the ABC primetime series Battle of the Network Stars, which debuted one year earlier. It featured 45 Hanna-Barbera characters organized into teams which competed each week for gold, silver, and bronze medals. In each episode, the Really Rottens would try in each event to cheat only to get caught by Snagglepuss each time. One season of 16 episodes was produced in 1977–78, and eight new episodes combined with reruns for the 1978–79 season as Scooby's All-Stars. Unlike most cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, Laff-A-Lympics did not contain a laugh track. Scooby’s Laff-a-Lympics was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution currently owns the series through its two in-name-only units, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and Turner Entertainment.

References

  1. 1 2 Freireich, Marissa (May 7, 2013). "Composer Ted Nichols, known for his Scooby Doo and Flintstones scores, continues his varied musical career from his home in Williams". Williams News. Archived from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.