Ken Darby, 82; Award-Winning Music Arranger

Ken Darby, a three-time Academy Award-winning arranger who began his career playing piano and organ for silent films, has died. He was 82.

Darby, who had heart problems, died Friday at his home in Sherman Oaks, a family representative said.

He won Oscars for best scoring of a musical for “The King and I” (with Alfred Newman) in 1956, “Porgy and Bess” (with Andre Previn) in 1959 and for best adaptation of music for “Camelot” (with Newman) in 1967.

Darby was also nominated for Academy Awards for his work on “How the West Was Won” in 1963, “South Pacific” in 1958 and “Flower Drum Song” in 1961.

Born Kenneth Lorin Darby in Hebron, Neb., on May 13, 1909, Darby studied piano at age 5 and trumpet at 9. As a child, he moved with his family to Santa Monica. There, he studied sight reading, harmony, counterpoint and composition with private teachers.

As a student at Chapman College (now Chapman University), Darby began playing piano or organ in theaters showing silent films.

With the advent of talking pictures, Darby began providing songs and background music for films. He did stints as musical film director at MGM, inventing among other things the Munchkin voices in “The Wizard of Oz.” During the 1940s, Darby was musical supervisor for Walt Disney studios.

His myriad songs for films and television included “Love Song of Kalua,” “The Bus Stop Song,” “Legend of Jesse James,” Marlene Dietrich’s “Young Man,” “Saga of the Ponderosa,” “Song From Desiree,” “River of No Return,” and “Daniel Boone Was a Man.”

Darby is survived by his wife, a son, Peter, a daughter, Cristina Doremus, and one grandson.

Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, Hollywood Hills.