John Williams

Sound

Born: 1932-02-08

From: Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Gender: Male

Popularity: 1.8

Also Known As

John Towner WilliamsJohnny Williams John Williams Jr.

Biography

John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer and conductor. In a career that has spanned seven decades, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable, and critically acclaimed film scoresin cinema history. He has a distinct sound that mixes romanticism, impressionism and atonal music with complex orchestration. He is best known for his collaborations with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and has received numerous accolades including 26 Grammy Awards, five Academy Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. With 54 Academy Award nominations, he is the second-most nominated person, after Walt Disney, and is the oldest Oscar nominee in any category, at 91 years old. Williams's early work as a film composer includes Valley of the Dolls (1967), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), Images and The Cowboys (both 1972), The Long Goodbye (1973) and The Towering Inferno (1974). He has collaborated with Spielberg since The Sugarland Express (1974), composing music for all but five of his feature films. He received five Academy Awards for Best Score for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Schindler's List (1993). Other memorable collaborations with Spielberg include Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the Indiana Jones franchise (1981–2023), Hook (1991), Jurassic Park (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Catch Me If You Can (2002), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), and The Fabelmans (2022). He also scored Superman (1978), the first two Home Alone films (1990–1992), and the first three Harry Potter films (2001–2004). Williams has also composed numerous classical concertos and other works for orchestral ensembles and solo instruments. He served as the Boston Pops' principal conductor from 1980 to 1993 and is its laureate conductor. Other works by Williams include theme music for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games; NBC Sunday Night Football; "The Mission" theme (used by NBC News and Seven News in Australia); and the television series Lost in Space, Land of the Giants and Amazing Stories. Among other accolades, he has received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2004, the National Medal of the Arts in 2009 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1998, the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame in 2000 and the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2004. He has composed the score for nine of the top 25 highest-grossing films at the U.S. box office. In 2022, Williams was appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II, "for services to film music". In 2005, the American Film Institute placed Williams's score to Star Wars first on its list AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores; his scores for Jaws and E.T. also made the list. The Library of Congress entered the Star Wars soundtrack into the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Description above from the Wikipedia article John Williams, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Awards & Nominations13 won · 47 nominated

🏆 Won

Disney Legends

2024

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

2024

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

The Fabelmans

2023

Nominated

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score

The Fabelmans

2023

🏆 Won

Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire

2022

🏆 Won

Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts

2020

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker

2020

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi

2018

🏆 Won

Officer of Arts and Letters

2016

🏆 Won

AFI Life Achievement Award

2016

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

2016

🏆 Won

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition

The Book Thief

2015

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

The Book Thief

2014

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Lincoln

2013

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

War Horse

2012

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

The Adventures of Tintin

2012

🏆 Won

National Medal of Arts

2009

🏆 Won

Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media

Memoirs of a Geisha

2007

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Memoirs of a Geisha

2006

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Munich

2006

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

2005

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Catch Me If You Can

2003

🏆 Won

Silver Olympic Order

2002

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

2002

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

2002

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

The Patriot

2001

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Angela's Ashes

2000

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score

Saving Private Ryan

1999

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score

Amistad

1998

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score

Sleepers

1997

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score

Sabrina

1996

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Song

1996

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score

Nixon

1996

🏆 Won

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Schindler's List

1994

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Schindler's List

1994

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

JFK

1992

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Song

When You’re Alone

1992

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Song

Somewhere in My Memory

1991

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Home Alone

1991

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Born on the Fourth of July

1990

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

1990

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

The Accidental Tourist

1989

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

The Witches of Eastwick

1988

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Empire of the Sun

1988

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

The River

1985

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

1985

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi

1984

🏆 Won

Academy Award for Best Original Score

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

1983

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

1983

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Song

1983

Nominated

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Musical Score

Monsignor

1983

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Raiders of the Lost Ark

1982

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back

1981

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Superman

1979

🏆 Won

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

1978

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1978

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

1978

🏆 Won

Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score

Jaws

1976

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score

Jaws

1976

Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score

The Towering Inferno

1975

John Williams

Also Known As

Biography

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Awards & Nominations13 won · 47 nominated

Acting2 titles

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: A Musical Journey

Sound147 titles

Disclosure Day

Jurassic World Rebirth

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Superman

Star Wars

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Schindler's List

Saving Private Ryan

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Jaws

Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Jurassic World Dominion

The Empire Strikes Back

Lost in Space

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Catch Me If You Can

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Jurassic World: Chaos Theory

War of the Worlds

Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: The Bad Batch

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Amazing Stories

Superman

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Jurassic Park

Minority Report

Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Book of Boba Fett

The Terminal

The Patriot

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

The Post

The Fabelmans

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Sleepers

The BFG

Hook

The Adventures of Tintin

Superman II

War Horse

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

The Guns of Navarone

Born on the Fourth of July

Bachelor Father

Lincoln

Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi

Munich

Alcoa Premiere

Jaws 2

LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy

Memoirs of a Geisha

Empire of the Sun

JFK

Far and Away

Stepmom

The Poseidon Adventure

1941

The Towering Inferno

Midway

Seven Years in Tibet

The Witches of Eastwick

Presumed Innocent