Alexander Courage
Encyclopedia
Alexander "Sandy" Mair Courage Jr. (December 10, 1919 –May 15, 2008) was an American orchestrator
, arranger, and composer of music, primarily for television and film.
. He received a music degree from the Eastman School of Music
in Rochester, New York, in 1941. He served in the United States Army Air Force in the western United States during the Second World War. During that period, he also found the time to compose music for the radio. His credits in this medium include the programs Broadway Is My Beat
, Hollywood Soundstage, and Romance.
studios, which included work in such films as the 1951 Show Boat
("Life Upon the Wicked Stage" number), The Band Wagon
("I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan"), Gigi
(the can-can for the entrance of patrons at Maxim's), and the barn-raising dance from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
He frequently served as an orchestrator on films scored by Andre Previn
(My Fair Lady
, the "The Circus is a Wacky World", and "You're Gonna Hear from Me" production numbers for Inside Daisy Clover
), Adolph Deutsch
(Funny Face
, Some Like It Hot
), John Williams (The Poseidon Adventure, Superman, Jurassic Park
, and the Academy Award-nominated musical film
s Fiddler on the Roof
and Tom Sawyer), and Jerry Goldsmith
(Rudy
, Mulan
, The Mummy
, et al.). Courage succeeded Arthur Morton as primary orchestrator for Goldsmith in the 1990s. Ironically, with Star Trek: The Motion Picture
he was orchestrating Goldsmith's adaptation of his own original theme.
Apart from his work as a respected orchestrator, Courage also contributed original dramatic scores to films, including two 1950s westerns, Arthur Penn
's The Left Handed Gun
and Andre de Toth
's Day of the Outlaw. He continued writing music for movies throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, including the score for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
which incorporated three new musical themes by John Williams, in addition to Courage's adapted and original cues for the film. Courage's score for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was released on CD in early 2008 by the Film Music Monthly company as part of its boxed set Superman - The Music.
, and some other music for the series, but he also worked as a composer on such TV shows as The Brothers Brannagan
, Lost in Space
, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
, Judd, for the Defense
(this was the only TV series besides Star Trek
for which he composed the main theme), and Daniel Boone
.
Courage reportedly became alienated from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry
over the latter's claim for half of the music royalties. (Roddenberry wrote words for Courage's Star Trek theme song, not because he expected the lyrics to be sung on TV, but by claiming credit as the song's co-writer, resulting in Roddenberry receiving half of the royalties
from the song.)
The composer Jerry Goldsmith
and Courage teamed on the long-running TV show The Waltons
in which Goldsmith composed the theme and Courage the Aaron Copland
-influenced incidental music. In 1988 Courage won an Emmy Award
for his music direction on the special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas.
.
. He had suffered a series of strokes prior to his death.
He is entombed at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
.
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
, arranger, and composer of music, primarily for television and film.
Biography
Courage was born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. He received a music degree from the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
in Rochester, New York, in 1941. He served in the United States Army Air Force in the western United States during the Second World War. During that period, he also found the time to compose music for the radio. His credits in this medium include the programs Broadway Is My Beat
Broadway Is My Beat
Broadway Is My Beat, a radio crime drama, ran on CBS from February 27, 1949 to August 1, 1954. With Anthony Ross portraying Times Square Detective Danny Clover, the show originated from New York during its first three months on the air. For the remainder of the series, the role of Detective Danny...
, Hollywood Soundstage, and Romance.
Motion picture work
Courage began as an orchestrator/arranger at MGMMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
studios, which included work in such films as the 1951 Show Boat
Show Boat (1951 film)
Show Boat is a 1951 Technicolor film based on the musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the novel by Edna Ferber....
("Life Upon the Wicked Stage" number), The Band Wagon
The Band Wagon
The Band Wagon is a 1953 musical comedy film that many critics rank, along with Singin' in the Rain, as the finest of the MGM musicals, although it was only a modest box-office success. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway play will restart his career...
("I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan"), Gigi
Gigi (1958 film)
Gigi is a 1958 musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner is based on the 1944 novella of the same name by Colette...
(the can-can for the entrance of patrons at Maxim's), and the barn-raising dance from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
He frequently served as an orchestrator on films scored by Andre Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
(My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady (film)
My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...
, the "The Circus is a Wacky World", and "You're Gonna Hear from Me" production numbers for Inside Daisy Clover
Inside Daisy Clover
Inside Daisy Clover is a 1965 American drama film based on the 1963 novel by Gavin Lambert. It stars Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall and Ruth Gordon in her Academy Award nominated role.- Plot :...
), Adolph Deutsch
Adolph Deutsch
Adolph Deutsch was a composer, conductor and arranger. He won Oscars for his background music for Oklahoma! , and for conducting the music for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Annie Get Your Gun...
(Funny Face
Funny Face
Funny Face is an American musical film released in 1957 in VistaVision Technicolor, with assorted songs by George and Ira Gershwin. The film was written by Leonard Gershe and directed by Stanley Donen. It stars Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, and Kay Thompson...
, Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
), John Williams (The Poseidon Adventure, Superman, Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
, and the Academy Award-nominated musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
s Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
and Tom Sawyer), and Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
(Rudy
Rudy (film)
Rudy is a 1993 American sports film directed by David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles...
, Mulan
Mulan
Mulan is a 1998 American animated film directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, with story by Robert D. San Souci and screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and Raymond Singer. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney...
, The Mummy
The Mummy (1999 film)
The Mummy is a 1999 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Kevin J. O'Connor, with Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film features substantial dialogue in ancient Egyptian language, spoken...
, et al.). Courage succeeded Arthur Morton as primary orchestrator for Goldsmith in the 1990s. Ironically, with Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on the Star Trek television series. The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'Ger approaches the Earth,...
he was orchestrating Goldsmith's adaptation of his own original theme.
Apart from his work as a respected orchestrator, Courage also contributed original dramatic scores to films, including two 1950s westerns, Arthur Penn
Arthur Penn
Arthur Hiller Penn was an American film director and producer with a career as a theater director as well. Penn amassed a critically acclaimed body of work throughout the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:...
's The Left Handed Gun
The Left Handed Gun
The Left Handed Gun is a 1958 American western film and the film directorial debut of Arthur Penn, starring Paul Newman as Billy the Kid and John Dehner as Pat Garrett...
and Andre de Toth
André De Toth
André de Toth was a Hungarian-American filmmaker, born and raised in Makó, Csongrád, Kingdom of Hungary Austro-Hungarian Empire. He directed the 3-D film House of Wax, despite being unable to see in 3-D himself, having lost an eye at an early age. He is known for his gritty B movies in the western...
's Day of the Outlaw. He continued writing music for movies throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, including the score for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 superhero film directed by Sidney J. Furie. It is the fourth film in the Superman film series and the last installment to star Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. It is the first film in the series not to be produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, but...
which incorporated three new musical themes by John Williams, in addition to Courage's adapted and original cues for the film. Courage's score for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was released on CD in early 2008 by the Film Music Monthly company as part of its boxed set Superman - The Music.
Television work
Courage is probably best known for writing the theme music for Star TrekStar Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, and some other music for the series, but he also worked as a composer on such TV shows as The Brothers Brannagan
The Brothers Brannagan
The Brothers Brannagan is an American crime drama television series that aired in syndication from September 24, 1960, and July 15, 1961.-Synopsis:...
, Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a 1960s American science fiction television series based on the 1961 film of the same name. Both were created by Irwin Allen, which enabled the movie's sets, costumes, props, special effects models, and sometimes footage, to be used in the production of the...
, Judd, for the Defense
Judd, for the Defense
Judd, for the Defense is an American legal drama originally broadcast on the ABC network on Friday nights from September 8, 1967, to September 19, 1969.-Synopsis:...
(this was the only TV series besides Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
for which he composed the main theme), and Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (TV series)
Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
.
Courage reportedly became alienated from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
over the latter's claim for half of the music royalties. (Roddenberry wrote words for Courage's Star Trek theme song, not because he expected the lyrics to be sung on TV, but by claiming credit as the song's co-writer, resulting in Roddenberry receiving half of the royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
from the song.)
The composer Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
and Courage teamed on the long-running TV show The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
in which Goldsmith composed the theme and Courage the Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
-influenced incidental music. In 1988 Courage won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for his music direction on the special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas.
Other work
Courage frequently collaborated with John Williams during the latter's tenure with the Boston Pops OrchestraBoston Pops Orchestra
The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in playing light classical and popular music....
.
Death
Courage had been in declining health for several years before he died on May 15, 2008 at the "Sunrise" assisted-living facility in Pacific Palisades, CaliforniaPacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California
Pacific Palisades is an affluent neighborhood and district within the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California, located among Brentwood to the east, Malibu and Topanga to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. The...
. He had suffered a series of strokes prior to his death.
He is entombed at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
.