Richard Bellis

Richard Bellis (born April 3, 1946) is an American film and television music composer, former president of the Composers and Lyricists Guild of America (CLGA), former governor of the ATAS, lecturer at USC, musical director and former child actor. Born in Pasadena, Bellis was a child actor and auditioned to be a Mouseketeer. Bellis attended John Muir High School, from which he graduated in 1964. Bellis has directed the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop for many years. Bellis has composed and arranged music for the Disney theme parks, starting with arranging music for the opening of the EPCOT Center. He would continue working for EPCOT on projects like “Tomorrow’s Child”, Spaceship Earth, and the Imagination Pavilion. He wrote music for the Star Tours ride and Indiana Jones Adventure Stunt show at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Bellis has also written scores for a number of television films. However, when opportunities for composing dried up, he started a woodworking business with his wife. They built rack-mounted cabinets and console surrounds for those he knew in the music industry, as well as kitchen cabinets and conference room tables. When writing for Stephen King's It in 1990, he was inspired by Bernard Herrmann, particularly his use of motifs and ostinatos. The music for It was a mixture of circus and carnival music and features a calliope. When Emmy submissions came, they could only submit one episode and chose to submit the first. As a result, he received both his first Emmy nomination and first win in for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a miniseries or a special (dramatic underscore)" in 1991. He was interviewed in a 2021 documentary film Pennywise: The Story of It. The Emerging Film Composer: An Introduction to the People, Problems, and Psychology of the Film Music Business. February 2, 2007. ISBN 978-0-615-13623-3. Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a miniseries or a special (dramatic underscore) Year: 1991 Work: Stephen King's "It" Status: Winner Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a miniseries or a special (dramatic underscore) Year: 1992 Work: Doublecrossed Status: Nominee Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a miniseries or a special (dramatic underscore) Year: 1994 Work: Double, Double, Toil And Trouble Status: Nominee Burlingame, Jon. "SCL'S HISTORY FROM SCA TO CLGA TO SCL". Bellis has composed the music for the 49th Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode "The House of Quark".Longoria, Ruth (July 30, 2009). "Native son still making music". La Canada Valley Sun. Heaton, Dan (August 1, 2018). "Richard Bellis on Composing Music for Disney's Parks". https://web.archive.org/web/20190719040907/http://www.richardbellis.com/page1/page1.html Shafer, Ellise (July 8, 2019). "ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop Kicks Off in LA With Global Slate of Composers". Billboard. Burlingame, Jon (August 1, 2017). "Richard Bellis Honored by ASCAP, Cited for 20 years of mentoring its film-scoring workshop". The Film Music Society. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2023. Campopiano, John (November 14, 2016). "Get With IT, Part 2: Emmy Winning Composer Richard Bellis Talks Stephen King's IT". "Emmys Awards & Nominations". "Richard Bellis". TVGuide.com. Retrieved April 5, 2026. Richard Bellis at IMDb Official website