Vic Mizzy, Songwriter of 'Addams Family' Fame, Dies at 93

Vic Mizzy, whose infernally catchy themes for the television comedies "The Addams Family" and "Green Acres" are as entrenched in the memories of Americans who grew up in the 1960s as any pop tune or protest anthem, died on Saturday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 93.
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In a musical career that stretched over eight decades, from radio shows to "Spider-Man 2," Mr. Mizzy wrote pop hits, novelty songs and movie scores, but his most enduring compositions were the two humorous theme songs he created in the mid-1960s. Asked in 1964 by his friend David Levy, the head of programming for NBC, to provide music for a new comedy called "The Addams Family," based on Charles Addams's sinister cartoons, Mr. Mizzy came up with a da-da-da-dum beat followed by two finger snaps. The parody of beatnik ennui fit with the show's satirical, proto-hipster humor. The theme, sung by Mr. Mizzy, was so distinctive that it remained popular far beyond the series's two seasons.

Just one year later, Mr. Mizzy wrote the theme song for "Green Acres," a comedy about Manhattanites returning to the land, which ran from 1965 to 1971. Once again he combined a gallumphing rhythm (similar to the "Addams Family" opening but faster) with lyrics that stayed in the mind:

Green Acres is the place to be
Farm living is the life for me
Land spreading out so far and wide
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.

As with the "Addams Family" theme, Mr. Mizzy was also involved in the direction of the title sequence.
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Mr. Mizzy continued working well into his 80s, releasing a compilation of his work, "Songs for the Jogging Crowd," on his own label, Vicster Records, in 2003.

The director Sam Raimi asked Mr. Mizzy to write a theme for the 2004 film "Spider-Man 2," which was eventually used on the DVD release.

None of his output, however, could overshadow those snapping fingers in "The Addams Family." And that was fine with Mr. Mizzy. "That's why I'm living in Bel Air," he said last year on the CBS program "Sunday Morning." "Two finger snaps and you live in Bel Air."