Television composer and A Star Is Born arranger was 93 years old
Ian Freebairn-Smith, the Grammy Award-winning arranger of Barbra Streisand’s 1976 hit A star is born Hit “Evergreen” is the author of dozens of TV series such as Cagney and Lacey and Magnum, PHe died on October 7 in Folsom, California. He was 93 years old.
His family announced his death.
Born on March 4, 1932, in Seattle to Thomas Freebairn Smith, a Welsh radio broadcaster who became the first executive secretary of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and his wife Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Beers, Freebairn Smith moved with his family to California at the age of three. He grew up in Sherman Oaks and Studio City.
Freebairn Smith began his career as a singer, eventually composing scores for several episodes of 1980s television series. Among them were rings Magnum P, Cagney & Lacey, Airwolf and Fame. He co-wrote the theme song for the 1982-83 series with Jimmy Webb Seven brides for seven brothers.
For the film, he composed the score for the anti-war film Strawberry statement (1970) starring Bruce Davison, Kim Darby, and Bud Cort. He was the bandleader and music arranger for the 1978 Burt Reynolds film the end He performed the same duties in the 1970s The Muppets movieincluding the breakout song “Rainbow Connection” which reached the Top 25.
Freebairn Smith won a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompaniment by a Vocalist for his orchestration of the 1976 song Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born), written and performed by Streisand with lyrics by Paul Williams. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in March 1977 and also reached number one in Canada. the A star is born The soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks.
Earlier in his career, Freebairn Smith was a session vocalist with mostly unknown acoustic groups such as Singers Incorporated and The Ron Hicklin Singers. Among the classic TV series to which he contributed vocals were: Flipper, Batman and Gilligan’s Island. With Hicklin’s group, he recorded the vocals for “Suicide Is Painless”, the theme song to the 1970 Robert Altman film. mash. The Johnny Mandel-Mike Altman combination was later used without vocals for the 1972-1983 television series.
He continued to sing throughout his career, contributing uncredited bass vocals for The day the Earth stopped (2008) and Matrix Revolutions (2003).
He has also worked as an arranger for singers such as Stephen Bishop – including the 1976 hit “On and On” – Liza Minnelli, Frankie Avalon, Phil Ochs, Andy Williams, Jeff Beck and many others. “We are losing so many legends. An amazing person and an amazing talent. Always a pleasure to work with,” Bishop wrote in a Facebook post today.
Freebairn-Smith has also hosted radio shows for various radio stations in Los Angeles, including KCSN. He has collaborated on dozens of commercial jingles for Chevron, Continental Airlines, United Airlines, Pacific Bell and others.
He is survived by his brother, Rod Freebairn Smith. daughters, Leslie, Allison, Jennifer and Vanessa; four grandchildren; and three grandchildren. His second wife, violinist Shari Siebert, died in 2024. His first marriage was to his high school sweetheart Billie Jean Mercer.