Edwin Astley
Thomas Edwin Astley ( born April 12, 1922 in Warrington, Cheshire, England; † 19 May 1998 in Goring- on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England ) was a British film composer.
Life
Astley went off at the age of 14 years of school and worked at a company that manufactured gas stoves. He joined the Royal Army Service Corps and began his career as a clarinetist and saxophonist in a military orchestra. After the end of World War II, he played in the 1940s, first in various dance bands before he formed his own orchestra. In the 1950s, he retired from the stage and began to work as an arranger in London.
From 1954 he worked as a composer for film and television. In 1955, he wrote the soundtrack for the film comedy The Mouse That Roared. In the 1960s he composed the theme music for several television series from ITV, including secret mission for John Drake, Simon Templar and Department S.
In the 1970s, Astley withdrew into private life. From his 1945 marriage to Hazel Balbirnie closed three children. His eldest daughter married in 1968 Pete Townshend, guitarist of The Who, whereupon Astley repeatedly been working as an arranger for the band.
His theme to Simon Templar in 1997 reached in the version of the band orbital position three on the UK Singles Charts.