- Taught a Master Class on film scoring at UCLA.
- Played baseball and football with childhood acquaintance Stanley Kubrick while growing up in New York City.
- Member of the SAC (Social Athletic Club) known as the Barracudas as a teenager growing up in The Bronx. Would later be introduced to director Stanley Kubrick by mutual acquaintance Alexander Singer.
- In October 2013, he received Lifetime Achievement Golden Pine Award at the International Samobor Film Music Festival (ISFMF), along with Clint Eastwood and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
- Was a strong supporter of the fight against AIDS. His 5-year-old son Zack died of AIDS in 1987.
- Busy composer for TV, best remembered for his contribution to Star Trek (1966) and the score for the miniseries Roots (1977).
- Attended New York's High School of Music and Art. Later studied oboe at the Juilliard School of Music.
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