Composer and musician Mark Snow – born Martin Fulterman on August 26, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York - was best known for writing the theme to popular sci-fi television series The X-Files. His music career began while attending Juilliard School in the late 1960s when he formed the band Emil and the Detectives with his roommate Michael Kamen. The band evolved into the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble and recorded several albums before splitting in the early 1970s. Martin Fulterman relocated to Los Angeles, California in 1974 and began to compose music for TV and film under the name Mark Snow. Between 1975 and 1993, he composed music for episodes of TV series including The Rookies, The San Pedro Beach Bums, Starsky & Hutch, Brothers and Sisters, Family, Vega$, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Dynasty, Cagney & Lacey, Paper Dolls, Crazy Like a Fox, Aaron’s Way, Falcon Crest, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, and Dark Justice. Mark Snow composed the opening theme and music for The X-Files, which became an international sensation. "The X-Files" was released as a single in 1996, reaching number 1 in France and number 2 in the UK. There have been countless remixes and samples of this song since its release, proof that it has left a strong impression on the collective unconscious. Mark Snow produced the soundtracks for the two films based on the series in 1998 and 2008 as well as the music for the revival series (2016-2018). His further TV credits between 1993 and 2024 include Millennium, Smallville, The Twilight Zone, One Tree Hill, Ghost Whisperer, and Blue Bloods. He also composed music for over 100 made-for-TV films beginning with The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976). While not as prolific in the motion picture industry, Mark Snow composed music for over two dozen films including the previously mentioned X-Files movies as well as Ernest Saves Christmas (1988), Crazy in Alabama (1999), and The New Mutants (2020). Mark Snow died from myelodysplastic syndrome on July 3, 2025, at the age of 78.
