Doug comes from a very musical family:
Father Willie Schwartz played lead clarinet with Glenn Miller and went on to a highly successful career as a Hollywood session woodwind player working in radio, television, feature films, commercials, and record projects for Billy May, Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, Neal Hefti, Henry Mancini, John Williams, and many others.
Mother Peggy Clark and her sisters sang with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra as The Sentimentalists and made four albums as The Clark Sisters; all the while she, too, was very much in demand around town as a sightreading phenom, with Jud Conlon, Jimmy Joyce, and Earl Brown. Her career was every bit as dynamic and busy as Wil's, singing on Academy Award-winning films with Henry Mancini and Johnny Mandel, and making hit records with Nat Cole, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and Stan Freberg. The jingles she made with Johnny Mann are still a radio benchmark and were featured recently in the film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
Sister Nan Schwartz is a Grammy winning, seven-time Emmy nominated composer and arranger with an extraordinary sense of harmony (check out her webpage), who just happens to be married to
Conrad Pope, an incredibly well-schooled musician who scores films, writes commissioned orchestral works, and orchestrates for guys like John Williams and Alexandre Desplat (here's his site).
Sister Karen Schwartz, like her Mom, is a great sightreader, and sings on record dates and film scores. That ethereal choir on Edward Scissorhands? Yeah, that was her (here's her site).
Uncle Bob Bain was the triple-threat composer-arranger-orchestrator, record producer, and guitarist who, when he wasn't dubbing (among a million other credits) held the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson band together all those years with Doc Severinson. He's even got a podcast!
Uncle Derf (Vern Friley) played brilliant trombone with everyone from Duke Ellington to Bill Holman to Buddy Bregman, and made a slew of other great records in the '50's and '60's, and was married to
Aunt Jean Friley, who sang with Sy Oliver, Jack Smith, and Ray McKinley and then transitioned on to film and television work in the '50's and '60's.
Wil's brother, Uncle Jack Schwartz played sax with Terry Gibbs and Gene Krupa, and played extensively in the LA club scene in the '40's, '50's, and '60's.
Aunt Ann Terry sang on radio, records, film, and television for Henry Mancini, Andy Williams, Carol Burnett, and many others, and was married to
Uncle Pete Terry, who likewise played with Ray McKinley before joining the NBC staff orchestra, livening up Laugh-In when he wasn't playing for Johnny Mandel or The Mamas and the Papas.
We'll save the storys of cousins, nieces, and nephews for another page...
When not lending his ears to musicians, producers, and composers, Doug can be found tending his citrus orchard, observing the night sky, or wandering the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area.