Will Schaefer
Schaefer (November 23, 1928 – June 30, 2007) was an American composer nominated for an Emmy Award for his work. He wrote background music for a number of popular television shows and composed over 700 commercials. His most famous track, “Fight!
Will Schaefer
- Born
- 1928 · Kenosha.
- Died
- 2007 · Cathedral City.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- conductor · composer
- Fields
- music · film · television
- Education
- DePaul University · Northwestern University · Bienen School of Music
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Schaefer (November 23, 1928 – June 30, 2007) was an American composer nominated for an Emmy Award for his work. He wrote background music for a number of popular television shows and composed over 700 commercials. His most famous track, “Fight!
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Will Schaefer. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q3285559 · wikipedia · Will Schaefer
In this article
Early life and career
Early life and career
Fight!” was used in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie as the backing track to "Now That We're Men."
Schaefer was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1928. His father, Helmut Schaefer, was a founder of the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra. Schaefer was educated at Mary D. Bradford High School in Kenosha, De Paul University (B.M.), and Northwestern University (M.A. and some work toward a Doctor of Music degree). His first credits as a film and television composer date from 1948. He served during the Korean War with the United States Fifth Army Band as an arranger and assistant conductor writing music for Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America.
Composer and arranger
Composer and arranger
Schaefer returned to composing themes for television after the Korean War with Gunsmoke and The Phil Silvers Show. In following decades, he would compose background music for many popular television programs including I Dream of Jeannie, The Flintstones, The Flying Nun, Hogan's Heroes, The Jetsons and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Schaefer arranged and recorded music for over 700 commercials winning three Clio Awards. He also helped arrange music for the It's a Small World ride for Disney. In 1978, his work on the Disney TV movie The Skytrap was nominated for an Emmy for best score. His last credited work was the track "Now That We're Men" on The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie soundtrack of 2004. (The music is his APM cue "Fight! Fight! Fight! (a)"). He died of cancer in a nursing home in Cathedral City near Palm Springs, California.
Identity
Identity
Will Schaefer is recorded as conductor and composer.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1999
Will Schaefer - Fight! Fight! Fight! A (1999) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2007
Will Schaefer died at Cathedral City.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Kenosha.
Birth place
Cathedral City.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3285559: Will Schaefer
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Will Schaefer”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,307 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Will MeiselPerson
- Will MellorPerson
- Will OsbornePerson
- Will SandersPerson
- Will SergeantPerson
- Will SheffPerson
- Will SmithPerson
- Will ToddPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Will Schaefer?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.