Biography for
Alexander Courage

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Date of Birth

10 December 1919, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Date of Death

15 May 2008, Pacific Palisades, California, USA

Birth Name

Alexander Mair Courage Jr.

Nickname

Sandy

Spouse

Shirley Pumpelly

(? - 2005) (her death)

Trivia

Frequently works as orchestrator for scores composed by Jerry Goldsmith

Familiarly known and referred to as Sandy Courage.

Famous for his "Star Trek Fanfare"

Survivors include four stepchildren and six grandchildren.

He was also an award-winning photographer whose photos appeared in such popular magazines as Life and Colliers.

He was among the founders of the Composers and Lyricists Guild of America, the union that represented composers and songwriters in Hollywood during the 1950s, '60s and '70s.

He received his degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. in 1941, then enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a band leader at various bases in California and Arizona.

He moved to New Jersey as a boy and took up both the piano and horn.

He enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army Air Corps on 6 January 1942 during World War II.

When Courage finished the signature theme to Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, the series' creator, penned lyrics to it, allegedly in order to collect half the royalties. In revenge, when Courage was asked to sign autographs, he would occasionally sign Roddenberry's name.

Said he made the "whoosh" sound which is heard as the Enterprise zooms through the opening credits of "Star Trek".

Personal Quotes

Little did I know, when I wrote that first A-flat for the flute, that it was going to go down in history, somehow. It's a very strange feeling. (on composing the theme for "Star Trek")

I have to confess to the world that I am not a science fiction fan. Never have been. I think it's just marvelous malarkey.....So you write some, you hope, marvelous malarkey music that goes with it. (from a 2000 interview for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' "Archive of American Television")

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