Quick Facts
Biography
Stephen "Steve" Dorff, Sr. (born April 21, 1949) is an American songwriter and composer whose work is mainly in the field of country music.
Dorff has written several songs for other artists, including "Hypnotize the Moon" and "My Heart Will Never Know" for Clay Walker, "The Man in Love with You" and "I Cross My Heart" by George Strait, "Don't Underestimate My Love for You" by Lee Greenwood, "Every Which Way but Loose" by Eddie Rabbitt and "Through the Years" by Kenny Rogers. He also composed the themes for Spenser: For Hire, Murphy Brown, The Singing Bee, Just the 10 of Us and others. In addition, Dorff was a co-writer of the song "I Just Fall In Love Again" with composers Larry Herbstritt, Harry Lloyd, and Gloria Sklerov. "I Just Fall In Love Again" became a major pop hit for Anne Murray, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1979. Steve Dorff also wrote the music score for the song "As Long As We Got Each Other" from the popular family TV sitcom Growing Pains, with John Bettis writing the lyrics.
He was also the music supervisor for Pure Country (1992) and Pure Country 2: The Gift (2010). Since 2009, he has been the bandleader on the CMT revival of The Singing Bee, for which he also composed the theme music.
Dorff has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and five Emmy Awards.
Dorff is the father of actor Stephen Dorff and songwriter Andrew Dorff. Andrew died at the age of 40 on December 19, 2016.
Selected filmography
- 1982 Honkytonk Man
- 1985 Rustlers' Rhapsody
- 1987 Back to the Beach
- 1987 My Best Friend Is a Vampire
- 1989 Pink Cadillac
- 1992 Pure Country
- 1996 Coyote Summer
- 1998 Dancer, Texas Pop. 81
- 1999 Blast from the Past
- 1999 Dudley Do-Right
- 2002 Mi Amigo
- 2010 Pure Country 2: The Gift