03/26/2026
With a heavy heart.
Charles “Charlie” Gross, 91, Emmy Award–winning composer and devoted philanthropist, passed away peacefully on March 24, 2026.
Born May 13, 1934, in Brookline, MA, Charlie grew up in Brookline and attended Brookline public schools, Browne & Nichols, and Harvard College.
From a young age, he showed both a love of music and an entrepreneurial streak. Given ten cents each week to take the trolley to his piano lesson, he discovered that if he got off before the fare increase at Coolidge Corner, he could save five cents—enough for an ice cream sundae at Brigham’s. He did exactly that every week, never missing a lesson.
At Harvard, where he joked he majored in “Whisky Sours” Charlie found his calling as a composer, writing for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. He later studied at the New England Conservatory and Mills College with Darius Milhaud and Leon Kirchner, and served as an arranger for the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point.
Charlie composed extensively for film, television, and theater. He received Emmy Awards for Rodeo Red and the Runaway and his score for Heartland earned a Wrangler Award, and he composed music for the Academy Award–winning documentary Robert Frost: A Lover’s Quarrel With the World, as well as films including The Group, Country, Turner & H***h, and Air America. His television and theater work spanned decades and genres.
In 2005, Charlie and his wife Joan DuBrow Gross, founded the Charles & Joan Gross Family Foundation, supporting new music and choreography for dance companies nationwide—bringing together his passion for music and Joan’s for dance. Together, our family has supported more than 100 commissions, with many more to come.
Charlie left a letter to read after his death. One of the last lines read, "What I ultimately learned was that if you are clear on what your goals are, everything else will fall into place." Thank you, Charlie for all the lessons along the way. We are all better in this world because of you.
