Alexander Courage

American orchestrator, arranger, and composer Alexander Courage built a lengthy career that spanned several decades, and resulted in some of the most popular films of all time. Courage received a music degree from the Eastman School of Music and served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. During this period Courage began composing music for radio programs, and by the late 1940s, was regularly serving as an orchestrator for films (although mostly in an uncredited capacity). Beginning a fruitful working relationship with MGM Studios, Courage would go on to pen music for such films as "Show Boat" and "Gigi," as well as serving as orchestrator for such films as "My Fair Lady," "Fiddler on the Roof," and "Tom Sawyer." Courage received a pair of Academy Award nominations during his career, for 1964's "The Pleasure Seekers" and 1967's "Doctor Dolittle" (both for "Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment"), plus winning an Emmy Award in 1988 for work on the television special "Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas."