American composer, conductor, orchestrator, film historian and arranger
Musical artist
Frederick 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 composing more of the incidental music for TOS than any other composer, as well as scoring or conducting the music for 29 of the show's 79 episodes. Steiner also composed and orchestrated additional music for
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
(1979),
[1]
was part 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
.
[1]
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
.
[1]
Early life
[
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]
Steiner was born on February 24, 1923, in
New York City
, the son of Hungarian-born film composer George Steiner.
[2]
Steiner was
Jewish
.
[3]
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.
[4]
Radio
[
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]
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.
[5]
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.
[4]
: 176
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
[
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]
Steiner wrote for a number of television series, including many episodes of the original
Star Trek
series. 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.
[6]
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
[
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]
His feature film work included original scores to films such as
Run for the Sun
(1956),
Time Limit
(1957),
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
,
Andrae Crouch
,
Chris Boardman
,
Jorge Calandrelli
, Joel Rosenbaum,
Jack Hayes
,
Jerry Hey
, and
Randy Kerber
.
Musicological work
[
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]
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.
[7]
Scholarly articles on film music appear in
The Cue Sheet
,
Film Music Quarterly
and the
Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress
.
Personal
[
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]
Fred Steiner died on June 23, 2011, at his home in
Ajijic
,
Jalisco
,
Mexico
, after suffering a stroke at the age of 88.
[1]
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; one nephew; two great-nieces; three great-nephews; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
[8]
Filmography
[
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]
Radio compositions
[
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]
Television
[
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]
|
Movies
[
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]
|
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Composer of 'Perry Mason,' 'Bullwinkle Show' themes dies at 88"
.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
. 2011-06-26
. Retrieved
2011-06-27
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
"The Eulogizer: Hollywood composer Fred Steiner, Houdini collector Sidney Radner"
.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
. 2011-06-30
. Retrieved
2021-01-03
.
- ^
a
b
Thomas, Tony (1979).
Film Score: The View from the Podium
. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 1750-498-92358-3.
- ^
Mowis, I.S.
"Fred Steiner Biography"
.
IMDb.com
. Retrieved
June 2,
2016
.
- ^
Steiner, Fred, "Music for
Star Trek
: Scoring a Television Show in the Sixties", in Newsom, Iris (ed.),
Wonderful Inventions: Motion Pictures, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound at the Library of Congress
, Volume 1, pp. 287-309, Washington, DC, 1985
- ^
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
.
- ^
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
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