A prolific, versatile American composer with a background in swing and jazz, Mandel has been active in films and TV since the 1950s. He began as a trombonist and trumpet player for a number of bands in the 1940s, working under such notables as Count Basie, Buddy Rich and Jimmy Dorsey, and later proved his gifts as a music arranger for Artie Shaw. Mandel created his first major score for a feature film with the vivid, violent jazz backgrounds underscoring Robert Wise's take on the Barbara Graham capital punishment biopic, "I Want to Live!" (1958). He has worked with such feature directors as
