Jack Quigley

BURBANK, Calif. — Jack Quigley, noted composer, conductor and pianist, died at Providence St. Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank, Calif., after a heart attack. He was 79.

At the time of his death, Jack was surrounded by his precious children and dear friends, with whom he was able to spend his final hours.

Jack was born John Robert Quigley on April 20, 1929, in Taunton, Mass., to Joseph Aloysius Quigley and Edith (Dunham) Quigley. He became interested in music early in life, and after graduating from Taunton High School in 1947, he attended the Boston University School of Music. During that time, his composition for string quartet was performed by the Boston String Quartet, and several other works were performed for the famed MacDowell Colony. By the time he graduated in 1952, Jack had immersed himself in the study of jazz.

In 1958, he conducted a weeklong series, "The World Around Us," for WJAR-TV in Providence, R.I., which explored the phenomenon of jazz in America. He organized a large experimental jazz orchestra that caused a stir at Westerly's Jazz Under the Stars festival in October 1959, and was deemed "the hit of the concert" in a page-long feature that appeared in Downbeat magazine. Jack's recording career began soon thereafter as Alan King's comedy album "In Suburbia," for which Jack had written the music, drew splendid reviews in Billboard and Cashbox magazines.

By 1961, Jack Quigley had moved his family to Los Angeles. Three albums of his own, "Jack Quigley in Hollywood," "Class in Session," and "Listen! Quigley," were each listed as jazz picks of the week by Cashbox magazine. Preceding the release of a fourth album, "D'jever?," Quigley was presented with a commendation by the Los Angeles City Council for composing a song that launched the Los Angeles Freedom Bond campaign in 1962. The song, "Fifty Stars," was sung by Johnny Mathis on the NBC series, "I am an American Day," for which Jack Quigley wrote, conducted and performed the entire score with the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

Quigley continued his association with Mathis, composing the title song from Mathis' 1962 album, "Rapture," and often conducted and arranged for the popular singer. In 1965, Quigley's ambitious composition, "Children at Play," was performed at the Los Angeles Music Center by the Los Angeles Neophonic Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Stan Kenton. In 1966, Jack became the musical director at The Carousel Theatre in West Covina, Calif., and later created and produced the musical game show, "Words and Music," for NBC-TV.

Jack Quigley continued composing, arranging and conducting into the late 1990s. He is preceded in death by beloved partner Loretta Rehnolds, and survived by family on both the West Coast and East Coast. They include daughter Erin Quigley and partner Don Foster of Silverlake, Calif., son John Quigley and wife Carrie of Long Beach, Calif., daughter Mary Quigley of Studio City, Calif., and daughter Noelle Polmanteer and husband Keith; and two grandsons, Zachary and Riley Polmanteer of Long Beach.

In Barnstable, surviving family members include two brothers, Richard Quigley, and David Quigley and his wife Eileen; two nieces, Christen Ip, and Bonnie Schulman and her children Meredith, Camille and Zachary Schulman. Two cousins, Mildred Murray of Taunton and Elizabeth Boucher of North Dighton, are also close family of the deceased.