Raoul Kraushaar, 93; Created Theme Music for Movies, TV Shows

Raoul Kraushaar, 93, who wrote theme music for films ranging from Westerns to comedy and musicals and such television series as “Lassie” and “The Untouchables,” died Saturday in Pompano Beach, Fla.

Born in France, Kraushaar came to the United States as a teenage stowaway. He studied arranging under Hugo Riesenfeld at Columbia University and headed for California in the 1930s to work in the entertainment industry.

Kraushaar earned his first credits as music supervisor in a series of Gene Autry Westerns in 1937. He also scored and arranged music for science fiction films, including “Invaders from Mars”; for musicals such as “Cabaret”; and for action films such as “Magnificent Matador.”

Moving easily into television, although often uncredited, Kraushaar made the background music for shows featuring Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound, Abbott and Costello, and Lassie. His other music graced such series as “My Three Sons,” “The Untouchables,” “The Donna Reed Show,” “Father Knows Best” and “The Fugitive.”