Eric Rogers

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Eric Rogers (25th September 1921 – 8 April 1981) was a British conductor and composer.

Rogers was interested in music from an early age, and during his attendance at church as a child, he was taught to play the church organ. His musical apprenticeship was generally untutored and he found himself playing the piano during the Second World War for free beer!

After the Second World War he set up his own orchestra, playing in the Orchid Room at London's Trocadero. As his reputation grew he was offered many conducting jobs for films. Most notably he conducted several Carry On films and was the musical director for the classic comedy film Don't Lose Your Head in 1966. He also conducted all of the music for the first James Bond film Dr. No under the title Eric Rodgers.

He would later go on to compose many film score's himself, most notably Carry On Cabby in 1963, Carry On Matron in 1972 and a hoard of Carry On films, the final score which he provided was for Carry On Emmanuelle in 1978.

He emigrated to America in 1975 and was much in demand for composing for film and T.V series. He struck up an alliance with DePatie and Freleng productions, who were at the time making a number of successful animated series for children, such as Return to the Planet of the Apes and What's New Mr. Magoo. He would work for the company for four years, conducting scores for What's New Mr. Magoo, Pink Panther in a Pink Christmas and providing scores for Return to the Planet of the Apes and the cult animated series Spider-Woman - The Animated Series for which he composed and conducted the theme and all the incidental music. He also conducted Dean Elliott's score for The New Fantastic Four animated series in 1978.

He would later conduct the music for Dennis the Menace in Mayday for Mother in 1981.

He died the same year at Chalfont St. Peter in Buckinghamshire, aged 59.