The Golden Girls: Theme Song Writer Andrew Gold Dies at 59

If you’ve ever had the catchy theme song of The Golden Girls stuck in your head, you have Andrew Gold to thank. The prolific signer-songwriter died on Friday in his sleep from a heart attack. He was 59 years old.

In addition to The Golden Girls ditty, Gold was well known for writing singles like “Lonely Boy” and “Do Wah Diddy.” He started writing songs at age 13 and by the 1970s, he was working as a musician, songwriter and record producer. He released several solo albums and had a successful collaboration with Art Garfunkel, playing all of the instruments on the hit song “I Only Have Eyes for You.” In later years, Gold worked with such popular artists as Cher, Brian Wilson, Don Henley, Celine Dion, and members of the Beatles.

“Thank You For Being a Friend” was released in 1978 and reached #25 on the US charts. He also sang the theme song for Mad About You called “Final Frontier.” That song was used as a wake-up call for the Mars Pathfinder space probe in 1996.

His mother was Marni Nixon, the singing voice of numerous movie actresses — most notably Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. His father was Ernest Gold, the Academy Award-winning composer for the movie Exodus.

Andrew Gold is survived by his mother, wife and three daughters — and legions of Golden Girls fans who will never forget “Thank You For Being a Friend.”

Here are Gold’s renditions of the classic themes:

What do you think? Do you think The Golden Girls has one of the best TV theme songs?