Alexander Courage

Alexander "Sandy" Courage (1919-2008) was interviewed for two-and-a-half hours in Malibu, CA.  Courage described his work as a conductor, arranger, and composer in network radio on such series as: "The Screen Guild Theater," "The Adventures of Sam Spade," and "Hedda Hopper's This Is Hollywood."  He described his entrance into feature filmmaking as an arranger at MGM, detailing his screen highlights on such musical classics as Showboat, The Band Wagon, and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.   He talked about his entrance into composing for television at Revue Productions.  He detailed his work on the MGM series National Velvet and talked about several pilots he made there as well.  Switching to 20th Century Fox, he described his work on such feature films as The Pleasure Seekers and Doctor Doolittle .  For television at 20th he worked on such series as: Daniel Boone , for which he composed dozens of episodes.  He described in detail his work on the series Star Trek for which he wrote the familiar fanfare, theme, and music for the two pilot episodes, as well as several later episodes.  Courage spoke of his extensive work on The Waltons for which he composed over one hundred episodes.  Other shows discussed include: Judd For The Defense (for which Courage wrote the theme and music for several episodes), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and several Academy Award telecasts.  He discussed his later work for television, which included the television movie QBVII (with Jerry Goldsmith), and the television special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas, which earned him an Emmy Award.  The interview was conducted by Jon Burlingame on February 8, 2000.