Henry Mancini (April 16; 1924 June 14; 1994) was an Academy Award winning American composer; conductor and arranger. He is remembered particularly for being a composer of film and television scores Mancini also won a record number of Grammy awards; including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. His best-known works are the jazz-idiom theme to The Pink Panther film series (The Pink Panther Theme) and Moon River. "The Pink Panther Theme" is an instrumental composition by Henry Mancini written as the theme for the 1963 film The Pink Panther and subsequently nominated for the 1964 Academy Award for Original Music Score. The cartoon character created for the opening credits of the movie by David DePatie and Friz Freleng was animated in time to the tune.
RCA Records released the tune as a single in 1964; it reached the Top 10 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart and won three Grammy Awards.
It was featured in the opening credits of all The Pink Panther films, with the exception of A Shot in the Dark, and Inspector Clouseau.Henry Mancini (April 16; 1924 June 14; 1994) was an Academy Award winning American composer; conductor and arranger. He.