Veteran Sound Expert Bo Harwood, Who Won an Emmy for Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Dies at 76
He was not on the list.
Veteran sound expert Benjamin “Bo” Harwood, Jr. has died at the age of 76. He worked as a sound mixer, sound editor, sound engineer, music supervisor, composer, and songwriter over the course of his illustrious career.
Born in Los Angeles in 1946 to Benjamin Harwood, Sr., and Jeanne Elaine Yourell Harwood, both native, first-generation Angelenos, Bo grew up in Pacific Palisades, where he often adventured in the hills of Will Rogers State Park.
In his late teen years, Bo and his mom moved to Midland, Texas, where he took up sports cars as a hobby. While in Texas, Bo studied architecture at Texas Tech University.
Bo started playing the guitar and harmonica as a teenager, singing and playing Bob Dylan’s songs. In the mid-‘60s, Bo took his guitar to the Bay Area to live and work in Haight Ashbury, dubbing himself “a proud veteran of the 1967 Summer of Love — fully equipped with long hair, knee-high moccasins, beads, bracelets and a pocketful of hope.”
After joining the band Trio in 1966, he was offered the chance to score music for a movie, The Bach Train, conceived and directed by James Eric, who Bo regarded as “one of the great artists in Hollywood.” As the composer of The Bach Train, Bo met independent filmmaker John Cassavetes at a screening of the film in 1970. Bo went on to work with Cassavetes the very next day.
With time, their relationship developed into a deep, artistic collaboration and friendship that lasted until Cassavetes’ untimely death in 1989. Bo composed the music and sound engineered the Cassavettes films Minnie and Moskowitz, A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Opening Night, Three Plays of Love and Hate, and Cassavetes’ last film, Love Streams, for which Harwood composed an operetta.
Bo earned awards for his work in Canada, one of which was a Genie for Best Original Song in 1984 for Paul Almond’s “Ups & Downs.” Bo’s film composer credits also include the cult classics Terror Train and My Bloody Valentine, both of which brought him Genie nominations.
Throughout the 1980s to mid-2000s, Bo was a sound engineer on several smaller films and television shows. During this time, he sound-engineered dozens of episodes of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, (for which he won an Emmy for Sound), My So-Called Life, Malcolm in the Middle, Felicity, Six Feet Under, and Entourage.
Always modest despite his innate talent, Bo shared his personal and professional wisdom with those around him with an open and loving heart, always ready to blow wind into another’s sails.
In 1996, Bo assumed legal guardianship of a goddaughter, after the passing of her father, one of his childhood friends. He maintained close relationships to his last days with many of his other godchildren, acting as a mentor and parent as needed. He shared his passions with others in a way that made clear he never lost his sense of childlike wonder.
Bo urged others to follow their passions and dreams, to take chances because amazing things happen when you follow your heart. For many people, he was someone who helped make those dreams happen, dedicating time and taking chances on younger, inexperienced hopefuls whose passion he understood. Bo worked through the hard times with many, reaching out to numerous people working through substance use and abuse issues.
Bo was always surrounded by a loving dog, from Bear through to Dio, who were the backseat drivers in his Cadillac Seville. His equestrian-friendly neighborhood in Rancho Burbank was home to his horse Yogi, a larger-than-life personality. He also loved his motorcycles (he traded in his Ducati for a modest Harley-Davidson) and bluffing his way through poker games, and he was passionate about great movies as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bo Harwood was married to Joanne Tolley, and later to Leslie Hope. He is survived by his sister, Laurie David and her, family, the family of his sister Joan Elkins Almond, many nieces and nephews, his adopted goddaughter Missy Meisenheimer, and many other loving godchildren.
Bo left an indelible impression of care and wisdom appreciated by numerous nephews and grandnephews, as well as untold godchildren who crossed his path. Bo’s family, friends, and second family members were fortunate and deeply blessed that he was in their lives. What will be remembered and missed about Bo Harwood, besides his dreamily artistic musical talents, are his care and hope for those in trouble and the considered opinion he was willing to provide.
A Celebration of Life will be held for Bo Harwood at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga on Saturday, Oct. 15, from 3-5 p.m. In lieu of flowers, you may send a donation in Bo Harwood’s name to the Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles, where he found a couple of his best friends.
Sound Department
Kevin Dillon, Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connolly,
and Jerry Ferrara in Entourage (2004)
Entourage
8.4
TV Series
sound mixer
2006
2 episodes
In Order of Appearance (2005)
In Order of Appearance
7.4
Short
sound
2005
Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodríguez, Frances Conroy, Rachel
Griffiths, Michael C. Hall, Peter Krause, and Mathew St. Patrick in Six Feet
Under (2001)
Six Feet Under
8.7
TV Series
sound mixer
2003–2005
29 episodes
Scott Foley, Keri Russell, and Scott Speedman in Felicity
(1998)
Felicity
6.9
TV Series
production sound mixer
1998–2002
62 episodes
Frankie Muniz, Justin Berfield, Bryan Cranston, Jane
Kaczmarek, Christopher Masterson, and Erik Per Sullivan in Malcolm in the
Middle (2000)
Malcolm in the Middle
8.2
TV Series
production sound mixer
2000
1 episode
Nothing Sacred (1997)
Nothing Sacred
7.4
TV Series
sound mixer
1998
1 episode
'Til There Was You (1997)
'Til There Was You
4.8
sound
1997
David Conrad and Kimberly Williams-Paisley in Relativity
(1996)
Relativity
7.7
TV Series
sound mixer
1996
1 episode
Claire Danes in My So-Called Life (1994)
My So-Called Life
8.4
TV Series
production sound mixer
sound mixer
1994–1995
19 episodes
Amelia Kinkade in Night of the Demons 2 (1994)
Night of the Demons 2
5.9
sound mixer
1994
Confessions: Two Faces of Evil (1994)
Confessions: Two Faces of Evil
5.1
TV Movie
sound mixer
1994
Julie Andrews, Ann-Margret, and Hugh Grant in Our Sons
(1991)
Our Sons
6.8
TV Movie
sound mixer
1991
Mimi Rogers and Mark Harmon in Fourth Story (1991)
Fourth Story
6.0
TV Movie
sound mixer
1991
The Judas Project (1990)
The Judas Project
3.6
sound mixer
1990
Paul Reubens in Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986)
Pee-wee's Playhouse
8.1
TV Series
production sound mixer
1989–1990
20 episodes
L'homme qui a vu l'homme qui a vu l'ours
7.3
TV Movie
sound
1990
Solar Crisis (1990)
Solar Crisis
4.1
sound mixer: additional production
1990
Night Angel (1990)
Night Angel
4.5
sound mixer
1990
'Weird Al' Yankovic in UHF (1989)
UHF
6.9
sound mixer
1989
Clare Wren in Season of Fear (1989)
Season of Fear
4.4
sound mixer
1989
Juliette Lewis, Anne Ramsey, and Nancy Mette in Meet the
Hollowheads (1989)
Meet the Hollowheads
5.3
sound
1989
Night of the Demons (1988)
Night of the Demons
6.1
sound mixer
1988
Bulletproof (1987)
Bulletproof
4.9
production sound
1987
Moebius Play
Short
sound
1985
Kings and Desperate Men (1981)
Kings and Desperate Men
5.3
audio consultant
1981
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
My Bloody Valentine
6.2
sound
1981
Terror Train (1980)
Terror Train
5.8
sound mixer
1980
Opening Night (1977)
Opening Night
7.9
sound
1977
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
7.3
sound
1976
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
A Woman Under the Influence
8.0
sound (uncredited)
1974
Composer
John Cassavetes on Acting: Video Essay for Husbands (2020)
John Cassavetes on Acting: Video Essay for Husbands
Short
Composer
2020
An Ode to Chad Muska
Short
Composer (music by)
2016
I'm Calling Frank (2007)
I'm Calling Frank
7.7
Composer
2007
A Constant Forge (2000)
A Constant Forge
7.4
Composer
2000
The Dance Goes On
4.9
Composer
1992
Moebius Play
Short
Composer
1985
Love Streams (1984)
Love Streams
7.6
Composer
1984
Ups & Downs (1983)
Ups & Downs
7.1
Composer
1983
Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
Happy Birthday to Me
6.0
Composer
1981
Opening Night (1977)
Opening Night
7.9
Composer
1977
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
7.3
Composer
1976
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
A Woman Under the Influence
8.0
Composer
1974
Music Department
Mélanie Pilon and François Bernier in Our Footprints (2021)
Our Footprints
Short
music
2021
Ups & Downs (1983)
Ups & Downs
7.1
music director
1983
Tracy Vaccaro in Candy the Stripper (1983)
Candy the Stripper
5.4
Video
music & lyrics
1983
Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)
Minnie and Moskowitz
7.2
musical supervisor
1971
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