Founder of T.O.’s Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival, award-winning composer dies

From family, friends, fellow musicians and former students, the phone calls and letters of condolence continue to pour into the Rhodes household.

Each voice of sympathy comes from one of the many people who were touched by Rick Rhodes, a longtime Oak Park resident and award-winning composer.

Rhodes, 54, died Nov. 2 after a long battle with brain cancer.

During his 13 years in Oak Park, Rhodes impacted the lives of many throughout the Conejo Valley with his optimistic outlook on life and his talent for music.

“We’re getting cards and phone calls from people I don’t even know,” said his wife, Vivian. “Some are from students he taught . . . or from musicians who want to tell me that Rick helped launch their career.”

Rhodes worked for nearly 30 years as a television and film composer and won five Emmys.

Best known for his work on the television shows “Santa Barbara,” “Guiding Light” and “Another World,” Rhodes also is credited with composing the film scores for “True Lies,” “The Birdcage” and “The Mighty Ducks,” among others.

But although Rhodes enjoyed success as a well-known composer, most people in the Conejo Valley remember him for the contributions he made to the community.

“Rick was a talented and accomplished musician and songwriter who was the creative force behind the performing arts program at Oak Park High School,” said Cliff Moore, assistant superintendent for Oak Park Unified School District. “Rick (and) our current drama instructor, Allan Hunt, were the dynamic duo who founded the theater program at Oak Park and provided a level of professionalism that has influenced many students over the years.”

Hunt said Rhodes had a knack for turning shy students into successful performers on stage.

“Parents would always ask how we got their child to perform so well,” Hunt said. “It was because of Rick.”

Rhodes’ involvement in Oak Park High School’s theater program began in the mid-1990s when his daughter, Allison, was a freshman. Rhodes invited a number of his friends from the entertainment industry to come and teach at the high school. He was instrumental in giving the school a new stage presence.

Rhodes also helped launch the Santa Susana Repertory Company with his good friend, actor Lane Davies, and the Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival in Thousand Oaks.

“Personally, what I remember the most about Rick was his heart,” Davies said. “He just had a huge heart. Professionally, he had prodigious talent and a quickness in learning a piece and knowing how to make it work.”

Vivian, who had been married to Rick for 23 years, said he was happiest when working on a production that involved his entire family.

“We have always been an extremely close family,” she said. “There was always laughing and music in the house.”

Vivian attributed her husband’s professional accomplishments to his keen entrepreneurial nature, and she said his success as a teacher came from his youngat-heart approach to life. “That’s why he related so welto students,” she said. Vivian said one of her fondesmemories with Rick was the opening night of “Ug,” a comedy she and her husband wrote together.

“It opened spring 2004 in San Jose,” Vivian said. “Rick was able to make the drive . . . and when the play received a standing ovation . . . I think that was one othe culminating moments in his career.”

In addition to his wife, Rhodes is survived by his daughterAllison, 21, his son, Adam, 16his mother, Shirley Rothstein

and his sister, Robyn RothsteinA memorial service was held last Saturday at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. In lieu of flowersthe family requests that donations be made to the City OHope.