Fred Werner (American composer)

Frederick Henry Werner Jr. (June 11, 1934 – June 11, 2024) was an American musician and composer who wrote and arranged music for television, cinema, and Broadway musicals. He started his career in New York in the early 1960s working with Frank Loesser, Noël Coward, and Bob Fosse. Later, he moved to California to work in television and movies, eventually returning to Broadway. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1964 for Best Conductor and Musical Director for the musical High Spirits. He is also known for his work on Les Crane’s 1971 album Desiderata. Theater works Werner’s first credited work was as the dance music arranger for The Conquering Hero in 1961, which ran on Broadway for eight performances. Later that same year, he worked as the vocal music arranger on Sail Away. He additionally served as the dance music arranger for Little Me in 1962 and 1964, and Sweet Charity on Broadway in 1966 and on the West End in 1967. Fred was the musical director for High Spirits in 1964 and Sweet Charity both during its 1966 debut, He is credited as the orchestrator on Skyscraper in 1965 and Sweet Charity in 1986, He arranged the music for Liza Minnelli’s 1974 Broadway special Liza (see Liv