The news of Harvey Korman's passing was hard enough, but then I learned that Earle H. Hagen, who wrote and whistled the theme song of The Andy Griffith Show, died Monday (May 26) in Rancho Mirage, California. He was 88. Hagen's other TV credits include writing the themes for The Dick Van Dyke Show, That Girl, The Danny Thomas Show, I Spy (for which he won an Emmy) and The Mod Squad. He received a 1960 Oscar nomination (shared with Lionel Newman) as musical director for the Marilyn Monroe film Let's Make Love.

Earle Hagen in October 2007

I found an mp3 of Hagen's masterpiece to include here, though it's not the authentic theme exactly as heard at the beginning of that iconic show. I guess they decided to flesh it out and jazz it up for the collection of TV theme songs on which this recording appeared -- it actually doesn't sound half bad. Dig that harmony whistling!