Steve Dorff

This article is about the songwriter. For the actor, see Stephen Dorff.
Steve Dorff
Birth nameStephen Hartley Dorff
Born (1949-04-21) April 21, 1949 (age 75)[1]
OriginNew York City, U.S.
GenresCountry
OccupationSongwriter
Years active1980s–present
Websitestevedorff.com

Stephen Hartley Dorff (born April 21, 1949) is an American songwriter and composer whose work is mainly in the field of country music.

Career

Dorff has written several songs for other artists, including "Hypnotize the Moon" and "My Heart Will Never Know" for Clay Walker, "The Man in Love with You" and "I Cross My Heart" by George Strait, "Don't Underestimate My Love for You" by Lee Greenwood, "Every Which Way but Loose" by Eddie Rabbitt and "Through the Years" by Kenny Rogers. He also composed the themes for Spenser: For Hire, Murphy Brown, The Singing Bee, Just the Ten of Us and others.[2][3]

In addition, Dorff was a co-writer of the song "I Just Fall in Love Again" with composers Larry Herbstritt, Harry Lloyd, and Gloria Sklerov. "I Just Fall in Love Again", originally recorded by The Carpenters but not released as a single, became a major pop hit for Anne Murray, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1979. Steve Dorff also wrote the music score for the song "As Long As We Got Each Other" from the popular family TV sitcom Growing Pains, with John Bettis writing the lyrics.[4] He collaborated with Bettis again on Josephine, a musical about singer Josephine Baker.[5]

Dorff was the music supervisor for Pure Country (1992) and Pure Country 2: The Gift (2010).[6] Since 2009, he has been the bandleader on the CMT revival of The Singing Bee, for which he also composed the theme music.[7]

Dorff has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and five Emmy Awards.[6] He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.[8]

Personal life and family

Dorff is the father of actor Stephen Dorff[9] and songwriter Andrew Dorff,[10] who died at age 40 on December 19, 2016.[11]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Riggs, Thomas (1994). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Cengage Gale. pp. 91–94. ISBN 978-0-7876-9047-2 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Steve Dorff biography". SteveDorff.com. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  3. ^ "Hit Songwriter Bios: Steve Dorff". durango-songwriters-expo.com. Durango Songwriters Expo. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  4. ^ Cronin, Brian (February 23, 2020). "Who Actually Wrote the Growing Pains Theme Song?". CBR.com. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  5. ^ Clement, Olivia (May 11, 2016). "The Verdict: What Do Critics Think of Josephine?". Playbill.com. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Craig Harris. "Steve Dorff biography". Allmusic. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  7. ^ "Meet the Musicians". CMT.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  8. ^ "Songwriters Hall of Fame Announces 2018 Inductees". songhall.org. Songwriters Hall of Fame.
  9. ^ "Stephen Dorff". FilmReference.com. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  10. ^ "Andrew Dorff". blacklabelbooking.com.
  11. ^ Nicholas Hautman (December 20, 2016). "Andrew Dorff Dead: Stephen Dorff's Brother and Country Songwriter Dies at 40". Us Weekly. Retrieved June 11, 2024.


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