Alexander Courage was born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey. He attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. After he was awarded his Bachelor’s degree in 1941, he did a five year stint in the United States Army and whilst in service, was in an army band, later becoming band leader and warrant officer. He started writing the scores for radio dramas featuring army actors. A fellow soldier’s wife was a music copyist at CBS and it was through her that Courage met and started working with Wilbur Hatch (Hatch was later to be head of music at Lucille Bali and Desi Arnaz’ Desilu, the production company responsible for the original STAR TREK series) and Lud Gluskin, head of music for CBS on the West Coast.