Mizzy started writing songs in his early teens with his childhood buddy, Irving Taylor, with whom he won The Fred Allen Collegiate Amateur Hour (they got $100 and a week long booking at The Roxy), and continued to work with through the end of World War II. Mizzy continued to write popular songs until the early 60's when he started writing for TV, writing for such "memorable" shows as Kentucky Jones, and Hank.
Then in 1964 he wrote his signature piece, the theme song for the Addams Family television show. Because the production company wouldn't pay for singers, Mizzy sang the theme song himself, overdubbing three times to give the impression of multiple vocalists (long before those punk kids used overdubbing to create Sergeant Pepper).
The next year he went on to write Green Acres, another classic 60's tv theme.
Asked last year how he felt about being remembered for a single little ditty like the Addams Family out of decades worth of work, he replied, "That's why I'm living in Bel-Air: Two finger snaps and you live in Bel-Air."
Funeral services are today at 11:00, at Eden Memorial Park, 11500 Sepulveda Blvd., Mission Hills, CA.
Sources:
World News Australia
Los Angeles Times
Vic Mizzy (photo)
IMDB
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