---
name: "Pete Carpenter"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/pete-carpenter"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "1 April 1914"
died: "15 October 1987"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T16:52:07.352387+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."
---

# Pete Carpenter

Composer. Born 1 April 1914 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Died 15 October 1987.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 1 April 1914, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
- **Died:** 15 October 1987

## Biography

Pete Carpenter (1914–1987) was an American composer, arranger and jazz trombonist. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, he began his career as a studio musician and band trombonist before moving into television scoring in the 1960s.

He collaborated with Earle Hagen on music for series including *Bewitched* (1964), *Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.* (1964) and *The Andy Griffith Show* (1966–1967). From 1968 until his death he worked with Mike Post, composing themes and scores for over 1,800 hours of television. Their best-known work includes the Grammy-winning theme for *The Rockford Files* (1974), as well as music for *Baa Baa Black Sheep* (1976), *CHiPs* (1977), *Magnum, P.I.* (1980), *The A-Team* (1983) and *Hunter* (1984). A Pete Carpenter Memorial Fund was later established by Post and the BMI Foundation to support young composers.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, thescl.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Rockford Files* (1974), Fi1m 83, Music — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-rockford-files.md)

## Also known for

- *Hunter* (1984), Music
- *Baa Baa Black Sheep* (1976), 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/pete-carpenter