Vincent Anthony Guaraldi was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip. His compositions for this series included their signature melody "Linus and Lucy" and the holiday standard "Christmas Time Is Here". Guaraldi is also known for his performances on piano as a member of Cal Tjader's 1950s ensembles and for his own solo career. Guaraldi's 1962 composition "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" became a radio hit and won a Grammy Award in 1963 for Best Original Jazz Composition. He died of a sudden and unexpected heart attack on February 6, 1976, at age 47, moments after concluding a nightclub performance in Menlo Park, California.
Guaraldi in 1963
Guaraldi (left), Fred Marshall and Jerry Granelli performing as the Vince Guaraldi Trio in 1963.
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. Peanuts is among the most popular and influential in the history of comic strips, with 17,897 strips published in all, making it "arguably the longest story ever told by one human being"; it is considered to be the grandfather of slice of life cartoons. At the time of Schulz's death in 2000, Peanuts ran in over 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of roughly 355 million across 75 countries, and had been translated into 21 languages. It helped to cement the four-panel gag strip as the standard in the United States, and together with its merchandise earned Schulz more than $1 billion.
Official mural of the Peanuts in Aachen
American astronaut Neil Armstrong wearing the "Snoopy cap"
Vince Guaraldi, (L, shown with Bernard Bragg and Don Freeman) provided the music for the first 16 Peanuts television specials and one feature film until his sudden death in February 1976
Charles Schulz's Hollywood walk of fame star. It features the 'television receiver' honor, which is for contribution to broadcast television.