Dominic Frontiere
Dominic Carmen Frontiere (June 17, 1931 – December 21, 2017) was an American composer, arranger, and jazz accordionist. He composed the theme and much of the music for the first season of the television series The Outer Limits, as well as the theme songs for The Rat Patrol and 12 O'Clock High. He was the winner of both a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award.
Dominic Frontiere

ABC Television · eBay front back · Public domain
- Full name
- Dominic Carmen Frontiere.
- Born
- 1931. · New Haven.
- Died
- 2017. · Tesuque.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- composer, music arranger, accordionist and musician.
- Fields
- music, film score and television score.
- Education
- University of California and Los Angeles.
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Dominic Carmen Frontiere (June 17, 1931 – December 21, 2017) was an American composer, arranger, and jazz accordionist. He composed the theme and much of the music for the first season of the television series The Outer Limits, as well as the theme songs for The Rat Patrol and 12 O'Clock High. He was the winner of both a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award.
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Dominic Frontiere (1931–2017) was an American accordionist, composer and film score composer, among other activities. Born Dominic Carmen Frontiere in New Haven, the accordionist died in Tesuque.
Dominic Frontiere studied at University of California, Los Angeles. The accordionist was active in film score, music and television score.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q1237569 · wikipedia · Dominic Frontiere
In this article
Biography ===== Early years =
Biography ===== Early years =
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of a musical family, at age seven Frontiere was already playing several instruments before deciding to concentrate on the accordion. At age twelve, he played a solo recital at Carnegie Hall.
Hollywood
Hollywood
After a period with The Horace Heidt Orchestra in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Frontiere moved to Los Angeles, where he enrolled at University of California, Los Angeles. He eventually became musical director at 20th Century Fox. He scored several films under the tutelage of Alfred and Lionel Newman, while also recording jazz music. He composed the music for two exotica LP records Pagan Festival (1959) and Love Eyes, The Mood of Romance (1960). An association with director and producer Leslie Stevens began with Frontiere scoring The Marriage-Go-Round (1961). This association led to several projects, such as his innovative blend of music and sound effects for The Outer Limits. The relationship led Frontiere to became production manager and executive of television and film production company Daystar Productions, a company Stevens ran. He composed several famous television themes of the 1960s, such as those for The Rat Patrol, Branded, The Flying Nun, and for producer Quinn Martin The Invaders, The Fugitive, and 12 O'Clock High. After scoring for television shows, he went on to compose the music for the Clint Eastwood film Hang 'Em High. The title theme for that movie became a top-10 hit for the group Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He also composed the soundtrack to the 1971 motorcycle documentary On Any Sunday, which featured Steve McQueen and was directed by Bruce Brown. He composed the scores of three films starring John Wayne, Chisum (1970), The Train Robbers (1973) and Brannigan (1975). He also was the musical director of the 1970 TV special Swing Out, Sweet Land that was hosted by Wayne, for which Frontiere won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement In Music Direction Of A Variety, Musical Or Dramatic Program. Frontiere became head of the music department at Paramount Pictures in the early 1970s, where he again worked on television and film scores, while concurrently orchestrating popular music albums for, among others, Chicago. Examples of Frontiere's sweeping, cinematic orchestrations appear in the opening and closing songs of the 1977 album Nether Lands by Dan Fogelberg. He won a Golden Globe Award for the score to the 1980 film The Stunt Man. He also composed a jingle for the studio's television division. Frontiere composed a theme for the lion Togar that was featured in the film Roar.
Tax evasion conviction
Tax evasion conviction
In 1986, Frontiere was incarcerated for nine months in a federal penitentiary after scalping tickets to the 1980 Super Bowl, which he obtained through his then-wife, Los Angeles Rams owner Georgia Frontiere. He was estimated to have scalped as many as 16,000 tickets, making a half million dollars in profit that he did not report to the Internal Revenue Service. Frontiere pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year and one day in prison, three years probation, and fined $15,000 for failing to report income from the sale of the tickets and for lying to the IRS. Georgia Frontiere filed for divorce shortly after Dominic's release from prison.
Death
Death
Frontiere died on December 21, 2017, at the age of 86 in Tesuque, New Mexico, where he lived.
Selected works
Selected works
Television • 1961: The New Breed • 1962: Stoney Burke • 1963: The Outer Limits (first season only) • 1964: 12 O'Clock High • 1965: Branded • 1966: The Rat Patrol • 1966: Iron Horse • 1967: The Invaders • 1967: The Fugitive • 1967: The Flying Nun • 1970: The Immortal • 1970: The Silent Force • 1970: Swing Out, Sweet Land (TV special) • 1972: Search • 1974: Chopper One • 1974: Movin' On • 1977: Washington: Behind Closed Doors • 1978: Perfect Gentlemen • 1978: Vega$ • 1981: Strike Force • 1982: Don't Go to Sleep • 1982: Matt Houston Film • 1960: One Foot in Hell • 1961: The Marriage-Go-Round • 1965: Billie • 1966: Incubus • 1968: Hang 'Em High • 1969: Popi • 1969: Number One • 1970: Chisum • 1971: On Any Sunday • 1972: Hammersmith Is Out • 1973: The Train Robbers • 1973: A Name for Evil • 1974: Freebie and the Bean • 1975 Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold • 1975: Brannigan • 1976: The Gumball Rally • 1980: Defiance • 1980: The Stunt Man • 1981: Roar (credited as the composer of "Togar's Theme") • 1981: Modern Problems • 1985: The Aviator • 1994: Color of Night
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2017
Dominic Frontiere died at Tesuque.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
New Haven.
Birth place
Tesuque.
Death place
References ==== External links
References ==== External links
* * *

Title card for season 1 of The Outer Limits (1963), composed using public domain and free license materials (see other versions, below). Cropped version of this file, dimensions roughly equal to that of the original TV title card.
Thomas Saxon · Wave-forms.svg

Colorized title card for season 1 of The Outer Limits (1963), composed using public domain and free license materials (see other versions, below). Cropped version of this file, dimensions roughly equal to that of the original TV title card.
Thomas Saxon · Wave-forms.svg
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Eder, Bruce. Dominic Frontiere Biography. AllMusic. All Media Network.
- 2.Dominic Frontiere. Space Age Musicmaker.
- 3.Dominic Frontiere and His Orchestra – Pagan Festival (An Exotic Love Ritual for Orchestra) (1959, Vinyl). Discogs. 1959.
- 4.Dominic Frontiere and His Orchestra - Love Eyes - the Moods of Romance. Discogs. 1960.
- 5.Fates & Fortunes. Broadcasting Magazine. 68. July 23, 1962.
- 6.Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Dominic Frontiere. televisionacademy.com.
- 7.Hasan, Mark R. Film: Roar (1981). KQEK.com. June 18, 2015.
- 8.Dursin, Andy. Aisle Seat 11-11: The November Rundown. Film Score Daily. November 10, 2015.
- 9.Goldstein, Richard. Georgia Frontiere, 80, First Female N.F.L. Owner, Is Dead. The New York Times. 19 January 2008.
- 10.Super Bowl Scalping. Sports Illustrated. 30 June 1986. 0038-822X.
- 11.Sports People; Frontiere Sentenced. The New York Times. December 9, 1986.
- 12.Burlingame, Jon. Dominic Frontiere, Composer for 'The Outer Limits,' 'The Flying Nun,' Dies at 86. Variety. December 23, 2017. 0042-2738.
- 13.Dominic Frontiere Obituary. Los Angeles Times. December 23, 2017.
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
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