Alexander Mair "Sandy" Courage (December 10, 1919 - May 15, 2008) was an American composer, orchestrator, and arranger whose career connected the grand studio-musical tradition of postwar Hollywood with the expanding world of television. He is best known for writing the theme for the original Star Trek television series, but that celebrated fanfare represented only one part of a long and varied career.
Born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, Courage studied at the Eastman School of Music, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1941. He served for five years during World War II, working as a band leader in the United States Army Air Forces. After the war, he moved to Los Angeles and began working in radio, contributing music to programs including The Camay Hour and Sam Spade.
Courage joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as an orchestrator in 1948. During the following decade, he became part of the highly skilled studio music departments that shaped the sound of classic American musicals. His work included orchestration and arranging for Show Boat, The Band Wagon, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Gigi, Funny Face, and Guys and Dolls. He later worked on major productions such as My Fair Lady, Hello, Dolly!, Doctor Dolittle, and Fiddler on the Roof. These assignments required not only musical fluency but also the ability to adapt quickly to the precise demands of singers, choreographers, directors, and studio producers.
Although he was often employed to arrange or orchestrate the music of other composers, Courage also wrote original film scores. His composing credits included the westerns The Left Handed Gun and Day of the Outlaw, as well as later projects such as The Pleasure Seekers. He was also involved with Superman and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, contributing to productions associated with composer John Williams. Courage received Academy Award nominations for his adaptation work on The Pleasure Seekers and Doctor Dolittle.
Television became an increasingly important part of his career. Beginning in the late 1950s, he composed or arranged music for hundreds of episodes and contributed to programs including Wagon Train, Peyton Place, The Untouchables, Laramie, Daniel Boone, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, The Waltons, Eight Is Enough, Falcon Crest, and Flamingo Road. His work on The Waltons demonstrated his ability to write substantial dramatic underscore, while his television assignments more broadly showed a command of contrasting styles, from western and adventure scoring to family drama and science fiction.
In 1965, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and producer Herb Solow hired Courage to score the series pilot. Courage's music combined a bold orchestral fanfare with a sense of lift and spaciousness, establishing an instantly recognizable musical identity for the starship Enterprise. The theme became one of television's most enduring signatures. Roddenberry was later credited as lyricist after adding unused words to the instrumental composition, a decision that affected the division of royalties. Courage ultimately wrote music for the two Star Trek pilot episodes but did not become the series' regular composer.
Courage shared an Emmy Award in 1988 for his arranging work on the television special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas. He was also active in professional music organizations, including the Composers and Lyricists Guild of America, and served as an Academy Awards adjudicator. Outside music, he was an accomplished photographer whose work appeared in major magazines. Courage died in Pacific Palisades, California, at the age of 88. His legacy rests both on the unmistakable Star Trek theme and on decades of largely behind-the-scenes craftsmanship that helped define the sound of American film and television.