Wilbur Hatch (1902-69)

Wilbur Hatch was born May 24, 1902, in Mokena, Illinois, a village near Chicago in Will County. He began working as a musician in radio after attending from the University of Illinois in 1922. He first worked at station KYW in Chicago. He became the musical director for CBS in Chicago and moved to Los Angeles shortly after Columbia Square was finished in Hollywood.

He did a number of programs at Columbia Square, but the first program on which he received rave notices was The Whistler in 1942. He wrote a haunting theme, consisting of 13 notes, which repeated, whistled by Dorothy Roberts for the entire 13 years the show was on the air.

Other shows for which he composed and arranged music included My Favorite Husband, Broadway is My Beat, Meet Corliss Archer, Suspense, Campbell Theater, Our Miss Brooks, and Luke Slaughter of Tombstone.

In 1950, Wilbur Hatch joined forces with Desilu Productions to compose and arrange music for I Love Lucy. Desilu would stay in business through most of the 1960s. He was the conductor/composer for most of the shows the company produced, including Star Trek, although he wasn't the regular conductor of that show and didn't compose the theme. He also worked on one episode of the Twilight Zone.

He died at his home in Studio City, California, on December 22, 1969, at the age of 67.