From Grokipedia
Full articleGerald Fried (February 13, 1928 – February 17, 2023) was an American composer, conductor, and oboist best known for his prolific output of over 300 film and television scores, blending classical training with innovative sound design for iconic series and movies.
Born in Manhattan, New York City, and raised in the Bronx to Jewish immigrant parents Samuel, a dentist, and Selma Adelman, a homemaker, Fried grew up immersed in music through his grandfather's trombone playing and aunt's piano performances, fostering his early interest in the oboe. He graduated from the High School of Music & Art in 1945 and studied oboe at the Juilliard School under masters Bruno Labate and Lois Wann, later performing as principal oboist with orchestras including the Dallas Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Little Orchestra Society between 1948 and 1956.
Fried's composing career launched in the 1950s through collaborations with director Stanley Kubrick, providing scores for early documentaries and features such as Day of the Fight (1951), Fear and Desire (1953), Killer's Kiss (1955), The Killing (1956), and the anti-war classic Paths of Glory (1957), which showcased his ability to evoke tension with limited resources. Transitioning to television in the late 1950s and 1960s, he became a staple of the medium, crafting memorable themes and cues for shows like M Squad, Shotgun Slade, Gilligan's Island, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mission: Impossible, Mannix, and the original Star Trek series, where his percussive "fight music" for the episode "Amok Time" (1967) became legendary for its primal intensity using everyday household items.
In film, Fried's versatility shone in diverse genres, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score for the nature documentary Birds Do It, Bees Do It (1974), while his television work culminated in a Primetime Emmy win for the groundbreaking miniseries Roots (1977), along with four other Emmy nominations across his career. He also scored projects with Jewish filmmakers like Roger Corman and Larry Peerce, often infusing his culturally Jewish perspective into his compositions.
Fried was married four times and had five children, including son Zack from his second marriage, whose death from AIDS in 1987 inspired Fried's lifelong activism with the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. After retiring to Santa Fe, New Mexico, he relocated to Connecticut in 2017, where he passed away from pneumonia in Bridgeport on February 17, 2023, just days after his 95th birthday, leaving a legacy as one of Hollywood's most enduring musical talents.
In brief
Gerald Fried (February 13, 1928 – February 17, 2023) was an American composer, conductor, and oboist known for his film and television scores. He composed music for well-known television series of the 1960s and 1970s, including Mission: Impossible, Gilligan's Island, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Shotgun Slade, Roots, and Star Trek. Early in his career, he collaborated with Stanley Kubrick, scoring several of his earliest films.
Fried was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards, winning once in 1977 for Roots, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for the documentary Birds Do It, Bees Do It (1974).
