Frederick MacDonald "Mac" Quayle, Jr. is an American composer for film, television, and video games. He has worked as the score composer for several TV series, including Sam Esmail productions Mr. Robot and Gaslit; numerous Ryan Murphy productions, such as American Horror Story and its spin-offs American Horror Stories and American Crime Story, 9-1-1 and its spin-offs 9-1-1: Lone Star and 9-1-1: Nashville, Scream Queens, Feud, Pose, The Politician, Ratched, Monster, and The Beauty; as well as the series The Pact and His & Hers. Quayle has also scored additional music for films and video games, and has mixed and produced scores led by other composers. He composed the music for the film Leave the World Behind directed by Esmail.
Quayle began his career in the late 1980s, working with producer Hex Hector as HQ2 and briefly performing in hip-hop band Rise Robots Rise. He worked with Cliff Martinez as an additional composer for several films, including Drive, Contagion (both 2011), and Spring Breakers (2013). He won the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for Mr. Robot, and has also been nominated for three other Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Early life and education Frederick MacDonald Quayle, Jr. was born in Suffolk, Virginia to Fred Quayle, a lawyer and politician, and Brenda Smith. He spent his early childhood in Richmond before his family moved to Norfolk. He first discovered a passion for music at age six when he sang in the choir of the Christ and St. Luke's Church, later taking piano and percussion lessons.
He attended Matthew Fontaine Maury High School for three years, but in Quayle's final year of high school, his family moved again to Chesapeake, where he ultimately graduated from Western Branch High School. During school, he served as a band member for two different bands: The Naros and The X-Raves.
Career Quayle moved to New York City to attend New York University, but departed when his internship at a studio allowed him to make a living working as a keyboard player and programmer.
In 2004, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as an additional composer for the CBS crime drama Cold Case. He was introduced to film composer Cliff Martinez, and would work under him on films such as The Lincoln Lawyer, Drive, and Contagion (all 2011). His work was noticed by Ryan Murphy when Quayle and Martinez worked on his television film The Normal Heart (2014), and invited him to audition to be the composer for the fourth season of American Horror Story. He was hired the day after his audition. Quayle went on to compose the score for Murphy's programs Scream Queens, American Crime Story, Feud, 9-1-1, Pose, The Politician, 9-1-1: Lone Star, and Ratched. He scored both seasons of the British thriller series The Pact.
Beginning in October 2018, Quayle collaborated with Gustavo Santaolalla to provide additional music for the 2020 video game The Last of Us Part II. At the 17th British Academy Games Awards, Quayle, Santaolalla, and Scott Hanau were nominated for the British Academy Games Award for Music.
For his work on the pilot episode of Mr. Robot, Quayle was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. He was also nominated for his work on American Horror Story and Feud.
Personal life Quayle is married to Cat Deakins, with whom he has two children.
Filmography Television Year Title Role Notes 2006 Close to Home Additional music composer 3 episodes 2006–2010 Cold Case 87 episodes 2013 Bad Samaritans Composer 5 episodes 2014–present American Horror Story 93 episodes 2014 The Knick End title music arrangement 1 episode 2015–2019 Mr. Robot Composer 45 episodes 2015–2016 Scream Queens 23 episodes 2016–2021 American Crime Story 29 episodes 2017 Feud 8 episodes 2018–present 9-1-1 With Todd Haberman, 133 episodes 2018–2021 Pose 26 episodes 2019–2020 The Politician 15 episodes 2020–2025 9-1-1: Lone Star With Todd Haberman and Justin Burnett, 68 episodes 2020 Ratched 8 episodes 2021–2022 The Pact 12 episodes 2021–2023 American Horror Stories 5 episodes 2022 Gaslit 8 episodes 2025 Monster: The Ed Gein Story 7 episodes 2025–present 9-1-1: Nashville 7 episodes 2026 His & Hers 6 episodes The Beauty 11 episodes Dark Matter 5 episodes
Film Year Title Role Notes2011 The Lincoln LawyerMusic programmerComposer: Cliff Martinez Drive ContagionAdditional composer2012 Arbitrage Savages Additional music programmer Composer: Adam Peters The Company You KeepAdditional composer Composer: Cliff Martinez Stolen Composer: Mark Isham Spring BreakersComposer: Cliff Martinez 2013 Only God Forgives 2014 The Normal Heart Television film 2023 Leave the World Behind Composer
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2014 Far Cry 4 Additional composer Composer: Cliff Martinez 2020 The Last of Us Part II Composer: Gustavo Santaolalla
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Episode Result 2015 Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special American Horror Story: Freak Show "Orphans" 2016 Outstanding Music Composition for a Series Mr. Robot "eps1.0_hellofriend.mov" 2017 Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special Feud: Bette and Joan "Pilot" rowspan="2" Outstanding Main Title Theme 2021 British Academy Games Awards Best Music The Last of Us Part II
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