Native son still making music
“La Cañada, proud and grand
Alma mater shall forever stand.
Our crowning glory, strong and bold
We shall honor thee, red and gold.
Through the years we’ll sing thy name
In faith and loyalty.
Hail to our alma mater, Hail all Hail!”
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If you attended La Cañada High School, those words and tune are probably embedded in your brain for all time. The LCHS alma mater was written by La Cañada’s Richard Bellis, who is now an Emmy award-winning television and film music composer. He won an Emmy award for his work on the 1989 Stephen King film, “It,” and was nominated for two additional Emmys.
Bellis — who was then only 17 years old and a student at John Muir High School — co-wrote the song with a friend and fellow young La Cañada musician Dean Wullenweber.
La Cañada High School opened in 1963. Bellis said he and Wullenweber wrote the alma mater as, “something to do. No one else was writing one.”
Music came naturally to Bellis, who is the son of former La Cañadans Lawrence B. “Larry” and Dorothy Bellis.
Larry Bellis was the longtime music conductor of the orchestra and marching band at the then-La Cañada Junior High on Cornishon Avenue and is fondly remembered for creating the La Cañada Band and Orchestra Camp. The camp is still going strong, 50 years later, as the Bellis Music Camp.
Richard Bellis also directed that camp for several years after his dad died in 1975.
Bellis now lives in Santa Barbara with his wife of nearly 30 years, Gloria Kaye-Bellis. He has a daughter, Adrienne Bellis, 40, an Irish Celtic dance instructor in Sante Fe, N.M.
In addition to his successful career writing music for film and television, Richard Bellis taught music scoring for television for 12 years at USC and also was an instructor for an extension course for UCLA.
And, he’s well known among industry professionals for his work on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, as former president of the Society of Composers and Lyricists and as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Through ASCAP, Bellis is currently involved in his 12th year as host and mentor of the 21st annual ASCAP Television and Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis. That workshop involves 12 up-and-coming professional musicians and composers selected from around the world for a “shot at the big time,” and what Bellis refers to as a “spectacular opportunity to meet lots of industry professionals and move to the head of the line in music production.”
Bellis was born in Pasadena. He attended La Cañada Elementary School and the then-La Cañada Junior High School..
In addition to a musical dad, Bellis was surrounded by theatrical arts from his mom, who was a stand-in for actress Myrna Loy. Dorothy Bellis thought her son should be in television also, so she became his theatrical agent, Richard Bellis said.
“I was sort of a cute kid,” he admitted, adding that he landed a large role in what later became a science fiction cult film, “Them!” with James Arness.
Although he enjoyed the opportunity to act, “That career path was not for me,” he said, adding that a career in music was his calling.
He began playing musical instruments at La Cañada Elementary School, starting with drums and the plastic recorders used to integrate kids into music programs. While in fifth grade, music teacher Dean Logsdon started him on the trumpet.
In junior high, he became heavily involved in his dad’s music program and served as drum major in the marching band and also performed in the junior high band and orchestra.
Bellis credits his dad with instilling a love of music in the impressionable youth.
“My dad was a combination of Mr. Holland [of “Mr. Holland’s Opus”] and Professor Harold Hill [of the “Music Man”], with substance, dedication and charisma. Being part of his bands was a terrific experience,” he said.
The junior Bellis’ professional career took off not long after graduating from John Muir High School. While attending Pasadena City College, he was asked to become the music director for singer Johnny Mathis.
But he was soon drafted into the U.S. Army and served for two years in Missouri.
After his stint in the military, he returned to music and has since been music director for various performers on tour and in Las Vegas. He’s also well known as the composer of music for TV and film. His credits include work with dozens of name performers and myriad cinematographic venues.