The musician, born Alexander Feldman, passed away from heart failure on Sunday (19Jul15) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

He is best known for co-writing Ella Fitzgerald's first big hit A-Tisket, A-Tasket in 1938 before moving on to work on TV and movie scores.

He composed scores for 1960s shows including Bewitched, Hazel, I Dream of Jeannie, and started a professional relationship with Mickey Rooney after working on the late comedian's self-titled show in 1954, He was also head arranger for the Dean Martin Show from 1965 to 1974.

Alexander scored films including The Atomic Kid and Baby Face Nelson, and worked for a number of singers, including Bob Crosby, Doris Day and Tony Bennett.

He was nominated for Emmy Awards three times for his work on separate TV variety specials starring Gene Kelly, Dean Martin and Jonathan Winters, and he was honoured with the Foundation Award by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 2002.