Gerald L. (Jerry) Dolin; Conductor, Arranger and Composer

Gerald L. (Jerry) Dolin, 79, a conductor and composer who began writing music for vaudeville houses in San Francisco when he was 19. His hit song “Panama” was one of the first popular songs with Latin American emphasis. Over the years he was conductor, arranger and composer for Frank Loesser, Esther Williams, Eleanor Powell, Eartha Kitt and Donald O’Connor, among others. He came to Hollywood with Loesser to work on the MGM film “Neptune’s Daughter.” There he met Betty Garrett and her husband, Larry Parks, beginning a 45-year professional relationship with Garrett that most recently involved her one-woman shows. He also spent many years in the orchestration department at Paramount Pictures. In Los Angeles on Thursday of respiratory complications.