Fred Steiner
Fred Steiner | |
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Born | film historian | February 24, 1923
Frederick Steiner (February 24, 1923 – June 23, 2011) was an American
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
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
Straight out of college, Steiner began composing and arranging scores for New York-based radio broadcasts. These early credits included
Television
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
Feature film work
His feature film work included original scores to films such as
His Academy Award nomination for "Best Music, Original Score" was for
Musicological work
Steiner received a doctorate in musicology from the
Personal
Fred Steiner died on June 23, 2011, at his home in
Filmography
See also
References
- ^ 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
- Fred Steiner at IMDb
- Fred Steiner at Memory Alpha
- Guide to the Fred Steiner papers at the University of Oregon.
- Fred Steiner at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
- Fred Steiner papers, MSS 2193 at the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
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