  alexander "sandy" mair courage, jr. (december 10, 1919 â may 15, 2008) was an american orchestrator, arranger, and composer of music, primarily for television and film. he is best known as the composer of the theme music for the original star trek tv series. ==early life== courage was born in philadelphia, pennsylvania. 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 forces 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. ==career== courage began as an orchestrator / arranger at mgm 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 andrÃ© 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 films fiddler on the roof and tom sawyer), and jerry goldsmith (rudy, mulan, the mummy, et al.). 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 andrÃ© 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 musi
1919_births 2008_deaths American_film_score_composers American_music_arrangers American_television_composers Burials_at_Westwood_Village_Memorial_Park_Cemetery Eastman_School_of_Music_alumni Emmy_Award_winners People_from_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania