Fred Steiner (b. 1923)
Perry Mason (1957)
Star Trek (1966): Apollo's Theme
Fred Steiner (b. February 24, 1923, New York, NY) received a degree in music composition from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Steiner has written for a number of television series that enjoyed great popularity in their day or in syndication. The most auspicious are the many episodes of the original series of Star Trek to which he contributed original scores (more than any other composer). An article he wrote for the Library of Congress, "Music for Star Trek: Scoring a Television Show in the Sixties." authoritatively outlines and defines the contributions of all the original underscore composers of this series.
Another of Steiner's famous works, "Park Avenue Beat," was used from 1957 to 1966 as the theme song to Perry Mason and was re-recorded by Dick DeBenedictis for the subsequent made-for-TV movies in 1985. Steiner also composed the main theme to The Bullwinkle Show and contributed music to episodes of Lost in Space, The Twilight Zone, and Amazing Stories.
His feature film work includes original music (Run for the Sun, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre) and orchestration/adaptation (sometimes uncredited) for other composers, including The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
[8923 G. Ligeti / 8923 Fred Steiner / 8922 Hefti]