birth_place relatives birth_date spouse article_title name occupation
burlington , north carolina sons john and christopher , daughter wendy 6 december 1923 karen rutledge maury laws
 maury laws composer
maury laws

maury laws -lrb- born december 6 , 1923 in burlington , north carolina -rrb- is an american television and film composer .
in his teens , laws performed in local country , jazz and dance bands as a singer and guitarist in his home state of north carolina .
his career was put on hold during world war ii , in which he served in the army .
in 1964 , he was hired as music director for the television production company now known as rankin/bass , a post which he held for roughly 20 years .
in this capacity , he conducted and scored music for a number of animated features , including `` the hobbit '' , `` jack frost '' , `` the flight of dragons '' , and `` frosty the snowman '' .
his most widely known work may be an adaptation of johnny marks ' score for the well-known christmas special `` rudolph the red-nosed reindeer '' , first aired in 1964 .
laws has also done composing work on a 1967 rankin/bass theatrical feature , the halloween-themed `` mad monster party '' .
maury laws resides in appleton , wisconsin .
he is active in the arts in wisconsin .
