Ben Lanzarone obit

BEN LANZARONECOMPOSER, ILENE GRAFF'S HUSBAND ...

Dead At 85 

He was not on the list.

Ben Lanzarone -- a composer behind music in hit shows like "The Love Boat" and "Happy Days" -- has died ... TMZ has confirmed.

Ben's wife, actress Ilene Graff tells TMZ ... Ben passed away peacefully in his sleep Friday after a battle with lung cancer.

Graff says she was with Ben -- to whom she was married for more than 45 years -- when he died.

While many people might not know Ben's name, they definitely know the music he helped create ... with his work appearing in many iconic shows from the '70s,'80s & '90s.

Among them ... "The Love Boat," "Happy Days," "Dynasty," "Mork and Mindy," "Laverne and Shirley," "The Tracey Ullman Show," "The Colbys," and "Mr. Belevdere."

Ben and Ilene met on the set of "Grease" -- where Ben worked on the music video for "Summer Nights" -- and later worked together on 'Belvedere' where Ilene played Marsha Cameron Owens for 118 episodes.

Ben was honored with the ASCAP's Most Performed Underscore Award in 1986 and is survived by Ilene and his daughter Nikka.

Lanzarone studied at the Manhattan School of Music and began his career as a classical pianist, making his debut at Carnegie Hall. But he moved into popular music through collaborations with Charles Fox and Bob Crewe. He was the musical director on the original 1972-80 Broadway production of Grease and toured with Frank Sinatra, Petula Clark and Art Garfunkel. As a pianist, he issued the album In Classic Form on the DynoVoice label in 1968.

He was the winner of ASCAP's Most Performed Composer Award. in 1977 Lanzarone married actress Ilene Graff. Their daughter Nikka was born in 1983. Ben Lanzarone died from lung cancer on February 16, 2024, at the age of 85.

 

Composer

"The Love Boat" (1979-1986)

"Dynasty" (1982-1985)

"Happy Days" (1978- 1980)

"The Colbys" (1985-1987)

"Hotel" (1983-1985)

"Mork and Mindy" (1978)

"Mr. Belvedere"

"Laverne and Shirley"

"Aloha Paradise"

"Tracy Ullman Show"

"Vegas"

"Matt Houston"

"Shirley"

"Out of the Blue"

"Good Time Girls"

"Glitter"

 

Ben was 85.

 

RIP