Earle H. Hagen, who not only composed the theme from the Andy Griffith Show but also whistled the familiar melody, died yesterday. He was 88 years old. From the Associated Press (photo from EarleHagen.net):

During his long musical career, Hagen performed with the top bands of the swing era, composed for movies and television, and wrote one of the first textbooks on movie composing.

He and Dick Rogers were nominated for an Academy Award for best music scoring for the 1960 Marilyn Monroe movie "Let's Make Love."

For television, he composed original music for more than 3,000 episodes, pilots and TV movies, including theme songs for "That Girl," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C."

Link to AP article, Link to EarleHagen.net