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Ted Nichols, a composer famed for working on Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as The Flintstones; Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!; and Josie and the Pussycats, has died. He was 97 years old.
News of his passing was confirmed by his daughter, Karen Tolleshaug (via The Hollywood Reporter). Nichols’ long battle with Alzheimer’s ended on January 9th when he passed away in hospice in Auburn, Washington.
Perhaps best known for his work on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Nichols also composed the score for the final season of The Flintstones, as well as 1966’s The Man Called Flintstone movie. He also worked on series such as Josie and the Pussycats, Space Ghost, Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, The Fantastic Four, Shazzan, The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show, Wacky Races, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Dastardly and Muttley and their Flying Machines, and The Pebbles and Bam-Bam Show. His live-action work included The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
In the 2021 documentary The Music of Hanna-Barbera’s TV Years — In the Groove, documentarian Cade Utterback described Nichols’ Scooby-Doo underscores as “what I consider to be a near perfect set of music for a cartoon. It’s perfect for the show it was in. You can’t tell me it doesn’t help set the mood.”
Nichols’ career with Hanna-Barbera began in 1963, after he was introduced to H-B co-founder William Hanna by a choir member while serving as minister of music at Glendora, California’s Church of the Open Door. He worked alongside Hoyt Curtin, another legendary cartoon composer, with the pair co-writing the score for the original version of Jonny Quest. Following Curtin’s departure from the company, Nichols stepped in as H-B’s musical director and served in the position for nearly eight years before Curtin came back to the role in 1972.
Born Theodore Nicholas Sflotsos on October 2nd, 1928 in Missoula, Montana, he and his parents, Nicholas and Josephine, moved to Spokane, Washington when he was 10 years old. There, he started playing violin, and after graduating John R. Rogers High, he joined the US Navy. While in the Navy, he played saxophone in a Jacksonville, Florida-based swing band; when he was transferred to Corpus Christi, Texas, he founded, directed, and played in the base swing band there. Prompted by the Korean War to join the Air Force ROTC program, he eventually was stationed at New York’s Sampson Air Force Base, where he founded the US Air Force Bandsmen Training School and became the program’s Commanding Officer.
After receiving music degrees from Baylor University and Texas A&I, Nichols directed a youth symphony and taught in a Corpus Christi public school. He moved to California to direct the Santa Ana Junior College band, during which time he also sang with Disneyland’s Dapper Dans between 1958 and 1960.
Once he left Hanna-Barbera, Nichols spent time writing and composing music for operas, in addition to gospel work and working as the musical director of Campus Crusade for Christ.
Nichols is survived by his daughter, Karen, and son, David; his six grandchildren, Tawny, Kevin, Brian, Alex, Carson, and Cammie; and six great-granddaughters. He was married to his first wife, Doris, from 1950 until her death in October 2009; he married her younger sister, Catherine, in 2011, and was with her until her passing in December 2020.
English (US) · 