He has been 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).
Born and raised in the Bronx, New York City, Fried attended The Juilliard School of Music. He attended The High School of Music & Art, graduating in 1945, and entered the world of film soundtracks when he composed the scores for five of Stanley Kubrick's earliest films.
After moving to Los Angeles he began composing and arranging music for several films such as Terror in a Texas Town and television shows such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., working with Robert Drasnin, and also the original Star Trek, for which he composed the famous musical underscore "The Ritual/Ancient Battle/2nd Kroykah" (now known as "Star Trek fight music") for the episode "Amok Time." Among his television show themes is his jazz-inspired intro for the western series Shotgun Slade.

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