A prolific, versatile American composer with a background in swing and jazz, Mandel has been active in films and TV since the 1950s. He began as a trombonist and trumpet player for a number of bands in the 1940s, working under such notables as Count Basie, Buddy Rich and Jimmy Dorsey, and later proved his gifts as a music arranger for Artie Shaw. Mandel created his first major score for a feature film with the vivid, violent jazz backgrounds underscoring Robert Wise's take on the Barbara Graham capital punishment biopic, "I Want to Live!" (1958). He has worked with such feature directors as Norman Jewison ("The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming" 1966), Hal Ashby (on three films including "The Last Detail" 1973 and "Being There" 1979) and Sidney Lumet ("Deathtrap" and "The Verdict", both 1982). Mandel also won an Oscar for the well-remembered romantic song "The Shadow of Your Smile" from the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton-Eva Marie Saint triangle "The Sandpiper" (1965).
Mandel began working regularly for television in the mid-1960s; over the years he has composed for many TV-movies ("The Trackers" 1971; "Single Women, Married Men" (1989), pilots ("Guilty or Not Guilty" 1966; "Call Holme" 1972) and specials. He has also written music for series including "Jack and Mike" and "Too Close for Comfort". Mandel received Emmy nominations for musical scoring three years in a row for his work on "A Letter to Three Wives" (1985/86), "LBJ: The Early Years" (1986/87) and "Foxfire" (1987/88). Probably his best-remembered work on TV was for the long-running CBS series "M*A*S*H", especially his adaptation of the haunting theme song, "Suicide Is Painless", which he originally wrote for Robert Altman's 1970 feature film of the same name.
