Fred Steiner - wikipedia Fred Steiner For American scholar of architecture, see Frederick Steiner. Frederick `` Fred '' Steiner ( 1923 - 02 - 24 ) February 24, 1923 New York City, U.S. June 23, 2011 ( 2011 - 06 - 23 ) ( aged 88 ) Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico Occupation ( s ) Composer, conductor, orchestrator, film historian Frederick `` Fred '' Steiner ( February 24, 1923 -- June 23, 2011 ) was an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, film historian and arranger for television, radio and film. Steiner wrote the theme music for The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and Perry Mason. While Alexander Courage composed the theme music for the original Star Trek TV series ( TOS ), Steiner 's significant contributions to the franchise included scoring or conducting 29 episodes for TOS between 1966 -- 1969 and composing and orchestrating additional music for Star Trek : The Motion Picture ( 1979 ). Additionally, Steiner was also one of the team of composers for the 1985 film, The Color Purple, which received an Oscar nomination and was an uncredited composer for Return of the Jedi. Steiner was most active in television series during the 1950s and 1960s. His numerous composition credits included music for Hogan 's Heroes, Have Gun -- Will Travel, The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke, and Rawhide. Contents 1 Early life 2 Radio 3 Television 4 Feature film work 5 Musicological work 6 Personal 7 Filmography 7.1 Radio Compositions 7.2 Television 7.3 Movies 8 See also 9 References 10 External links Early life Steiner was born on February 24, 1923 in New York City, the son of Hungarian - born film composer George Steiner. He began playing the piano at age six, and at age 13 had expanded his music studies to include the cello and music theory. Steiner was considered a child prodigy and from a very early age had a desire to do the same work his father did - composing film and radio scores. After graduating from Townsend Harris High School he accepted a scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he studied with composer Normand Lockwood. He received his degree in music composition from Oberlin in 1943. Radio Straight out of college, Steiner began composing and arranging scores for New York - based radio broadcasts. These early credits included Suspense and CBS Radio Workshop. Steiner also composed for several wartime propaganda shorts made to sell war bonds. The most pivotal point in his early career came when He was introduced to Van Cleave in the early 1940s by his father, who at the time was playing in Cleave 's orchestra. When Steiner was later employed as an orchestrator for various later radio broadcasts, he was inexperienced but studied Van Cleave closely to develop his own skills. In 1945 Steiner was appointed the first music director of This is Your FBI, composing and arranging for 47 episodes of the radio crime drama. With the decline of the radio industry, Steiner decided to shift his attention to television. He moved west to Los Angeles in 1947. Television Steiner wrote for a number of television series, including the many episodes of the original Star Trek series to which he contributed scores, more than any other composer. An article he wrote for the Library of Congress, `` Music for Star Trek : Scoring a Television Show in the Sixties '', outlines and defines the contributions of all the original underscore composers of this series. Perhaps the best - known of Steiner 's works, `` Park Avenue Beat '', is the Perry Mason TV theme. It was used from 1957 to 1966 for the original Perry Mason series and was re-recorded by Dick DeBenedictis for the subsequent made - for - TV movies in 1985. The tune was covered by The Blues Brothers for the soundtrack of the 1998 film Blues Brothers 2000. Steiner said he wrote such a jazzy theme because he envisioned lawyer - sleuth Mason as a flamboyant, film noir type often out on the town, but Mason as portrayed in the series was a somewhat reserved character seen mostly in his office or in court. Steiner also composed the main theme to The Bullwinkle Show and Follow That Man and contributed music to episodes of Lost in Space, The Twilight Zone, and Amazing Stories. Feature film work His feature film work included original scores to films such as Run for the Sun ( 1956 ), Man from Del Rio ( 1956 ), Della ( 1964 ), Hercules and the Princess of Troy ( 1965 ), First to Fight ( 1967 ), Carter 's Army ( 1970 ), Heatwave ! ( 1974 ) and The Sea Gypsies ( 1978 ), as well as orchestration / adaptation ( sometimes uncredited ) for other composers including The Man with the Golden Arm ( 1956 ), The Greatest Story Ever Told ( 1965 ), and Star Trek : The Motion Picture ( 1979 ). His Academy Award nomination for `` Best Music, Original Score '' was for The Color Purple ( 1985 ). It was a shared nomination with Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Rod Temperton, Caiphus Semenya, Andraé Crouch, Chris Boardman, Jorge Calandrelli, Joel Rosenbaum, Jack Hayes, Jerry Hey, and Randy Kerber. ( 1 ) Musicological work Steiner received a doctorate in musicology from the University of Southern California in 1981. His dissertation was about the early career of film composer Alfred Newman. Prior to Steiner 's thesis, there existed little interest in the academic study of film music. Steiner became one of the first to bring musicology and film perspective together. Scholarly articles on film music appear in The Cue Sheet, Film Music Quarterly and the Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress. Personal Fred Steiner died on June 23, 2011, at his home in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico, after suffering a stroke at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife of 64 years, Shirley Steiner ; two daughters, singer - songwriter Wendy Waldman and Jillian Sandrock of Ajijic, Mexico ; his sister, Kay Gellert ; two nieces Willa and Robin ; one nephew Adam ; two great - nieces Samantha and Rebecca ; three great - nephews Lorenzo, Max and Ezra ; two grandchildren Saida and Abe ; and two great - grandchildren Hannah and Otto. Filmography Radio Compositions Adventures of Philip Marlowe ( 1947 ) Arkansas Traveler ( 1946 ) The Borden Show ( 1945 ) Candide ( 1953 ) The CBS Radio Workshop ( 1940s ) Hallmark Playhouse ( 1940s ) Radio Readers Digest ( 1944 - 1945 ) Television Andy Griffith Show ( 1961 - 1965 ) Beany and Cecil ( 1962 ) The Big Valley ( 1965 ) Bonanza ( 1971 ) The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show ( 1961 ) Cain 's Hundred ( 1960 - 1962 ) Daniel Boone ( 1964 - 1970 ) Gilligan 's Island ( 1964 ) The Guns of Will Sonnett ( 1967 - 1969 ) Gunsmoke ( 1961 - 1979 ) Hawaii Five - O ( 1978 - 1979 ) Have Gun Will Travel ( 1961 - 1963 ) Zane Grey Theatre The Wild Wild West Wake Me When the War is Over ( 1969 ) Valentine 's Day ( 1964 ) The Untouchables ( 1962 ) The Twilight Zone ( 1960 - 1963 ) Twelve O'Clock High Tiny Toons Adventures ( 1990 - 1992 ) Tightrope The Texan Target : The Corruptors The Tab Hunter Show The Streets of San Francisco Star Trek : The Original Series Star Trek : The Next Generation Saints and Sinners Riverboat The Richard Boone Show Rescue 8 Where 's Raymond ? Rawhide Police Woman Playhouse 90 Peyton Place Pete and Gladys Perry Mason O'Hara, U.S. Treasury Navy Log My Friend Irma My Favorite Husband The Millionaire Mannix The Man from U.N.C.L.E The Man from Blackhawk Lost in Space The Long, Hot Summer The Lone Ranger The Loner The Lloyd Bridges Show Life with Luigi Lancer Kraft Television Theatre Judd for the Defense I Spy Hotel de Paree Honey West Hogan 's Heroes Hec Ramsey Hazel The Great Adventure Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. The Ghost & Mrs. Muir General Electric Theater From Here to Eternity Father Knows Best Family Flight Ensign O'Toole Dynasty The Dick Powell Show The Detectives Dennis the Menace Desilu Playhouse Death of a Salesman The Danny Thomas Show The Court of Last Resort Buick - Electra Playhouse Bracken 's World Boots and Saddles Amazing Stories Movies The Color Purple The Deadly Trackers First to Fight Gremlins 2 : The New Batch Herbie Goes Bananas Man from Del Rio Run for the Sun The Sea Gypsies The St. Valentine 's Day Massacre Time Limit See also The Film Music Society References ^ Jump up to : `` Composer of ' Perry Mason, ' ' Bullwinkle Show ' themes dies at 88 ''. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 2011 - 06 - 26. Retrieved 2011 - 06 - 27. Jump up ^ Lewis, Randy ( June 25, 2011 ). `` Fred Steiner dies at 88 ; Hollywood composer created ' Perry Mason ' theme ''. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved 16 May 2016. ^ Jump up to : Thomas, Tony ( 1979 ). Film Score : The View from the Podium. New York : A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 1750 - 498 - 92358 - 3. Jump up ^ Mowis, I.S. `` Fred Steiner Biography ''. www.idmb.com. Retrieved June 2, 2016. Jump up ^ Steiner, Fred ; Marks, Martin ; Goldmark, Daniel ; Lerner, Neil ( 16 October 2013 ). Film Music. Oxford Music Online : The Grove Dictionary of American Music. Retrieved 16 May 2016. Jump up ^ Lewis, Randy ( 2011 - 06 - 25 ). `` Fred Steiner dies at 88 ; ( Hollywood ) composer created ' Perry Mason ' theme ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011 - 06 - 27. External links Fred Steiner on IMDb Fred Steiner at Memory Alpha ( a Star Trek wiki ) Fred Steiner at Find a Grave Guide to the Fred Steiner papers at the University of Oregon. Fred Steiner interview video at the Archive of American Television Fred Steiner papers, MSS 2193 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University VIAF : 85823059 LCCN : n89646927 ISNI : 0000 0001 1462 2810 GND : 141181982 SUDOC : 057154430 BNF : cb14022730g ( data ) MusicBrainz : 3eaf26fa - 7503 - 46e9 - aeb0 - 63385598e1aa IATH : w6223fjt Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fred_Steiner&oldid=798681019 '' Categories : 1923 births 2011 deaths American male composers American composers American film score composers Male film score composers American television composers American film historians American male writers Musicians from Jalisco Musicians from New York City Oberlin College alumni Hidden categories : Articles with hCards Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Articles using Template : EmmyTVLegends name Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español فارسی Français Suomi Edit links This page was last edited on 3 September 2017, at 07 : 29. 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Question: who wrote the theme song for perry mason
Answer: Frederick "Fred" Steiner