---
name: "John Cacavas"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-cacavas"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "13 August 1930"
died: "28 January 2014"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T16:49:06.681745+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John Cacavas

Composer. Born 13 August 1930 in Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA. Died 28 January 2014.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 13 August 1930, Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA
- **Died:** 28 January 2014
- **Also known as:** John Harry Cacavas 

## Biography

John Harry Cacavas (13 August 1930 – 28 January 2014) was an American composer and conductor. Born in Aberdeen, South Dakota, he studied musical composition at Northwestern University and served as an arranger with the US Army Band.

Cacavas was the principal composer for the television series *Kojak* (1973–78), scoring 114 episodes and writing its second main title theme for the fifth and final season. He also composed scores for *Hawaii Five-O*, *The Bionic Woman*, *Mrs. Columbo* and *Buck Rogers in the 25th Century*, as well as television movies including *The Executioner's Song* (1982). His feature film credits include *Horror Express* (1972), *Airport 1975* (1974), *Airport '77* (1977), *The Satanic Rites of Dracula* (1973) and *Hangar 18* (1980).

He received two Primetime Emmy nominations and a Grammy Award for other work. Cacavas later wrote the theme for the 2005 video game *Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, billboard.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Kojak* (1973), Fi1m 80, Music — [page](https://film.one/tv/kojak.md)

## Also known for

- *Horror Express* (1972), Original Music Composer
- *Airport '77* (1977), Original Music Composer
- *Airport 1975* (1974), Original Music Composer
- *The Satanic Rites of Dracula* (1973), Original Music Composer
- *Mortuary* (1982), Songs, Conductor, Original Music Composer
- *Hangar 18* (1980), Original Music Composer
- *The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission* (1988), Music
- *They're Playing with Fire* (1984), Original Music Composer

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-cacavas