US West Coast arranger, conductor, soundtrack composer, jazz / studio guitarist, banjoist

James Herman Helms was born in 1933 in Norfolk, Virginia. He graduated from California's San Diego State College in 1957 and did postgraduate work at UCLA from 1958 to 1960. He studied guitar with Howard Roberts, and recorded albums of guitar instrumentals for Crown Records, 1963. He also was a guitarist and arranger for Rick Nelson, Randy Sparks, and Rod McKuen. Later he formed a music company with his wife, lyricist Norma Helms, and singer-songwriter-producer Gary LeMel. They scored low-budget movies and composed music for TV commercials. He hit the big time when he composed the music for the hit TV show Kung Fu between 1972-1975

After the end of ''Kung Fu,'' Helms with independent producers, wrote concert music, scored TV movies, low-budget thrillers, and commercials. He died in October 1991, reportedly of a heart attack.