Jack Parnell, Bandleader for The Muppet Show, Dies at 87
The respected jazz drummer also worked with Barbra Streisand, Tom Jones, Benny Hill and others.
Jack Parnell, a British jazz drummer who served as bandleader on The Muppet Show, died August 8, 2010, at his home in Southwold, England. He was 87. According to new reports, he had been battling cancer for the past year.
Parnell had show business in his blood — his father was a music hall performer and his uncle ran a string of theaters. He began drumming professionally as a teenager. During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force and performed in a band at the headquarters of Bomber Command.
Later, Parnell joined the renowned Ted Heath jazz band before leading his own ensembles.
As musical director at British broadcaster ATV from the late 1950s, he oversaw the music for long-running variety show Sunday Night at the London Palladium, produced specials featuring Tom Jones and Barbra Streisand, composed theme tunes and served as musical director of The Benny Hill Show.
In 1976, ATV began producing The Muppet Show, a musical variety show that brought together Jim Henson’s puppets and celebrity human guest stars.
Parnell conducted the orchestra for the whole of the series’ five-year run, although the on-screen bandleader was the Muppet conductor, Nigel.
Parnell retired from ATV in 1982 but continued to perform with bands near his home into his eighties.
He is survived by his wife, two daughters and three sons.