
John Williams
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.
Known For
Credits
- 2024 · Music by John Williams as Self - Composer
- 2024 · John Williams: A Legacy In Sound as Self
- 2024 · Disney Legends Awards Ceremony as Self
- 2024 · John Williams in Tokyo as Self
- 2023 · Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones & Harrison Ford as Self
- 2023 · The Making of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny as Self
- 2023 · Anne-Sophie Mutter - Vivace as Self
- 2023 · The Fabelmans: A Family in Film as Self
- 2022 · If These Walls Could Sing as Self
- 2022 · Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen as self
- 2022 · The Stories of West Side Story as Self
- 2022 · Ennio as Self
- 2022 · Anne-Sophie Mutter, John Williams & Friends: Beethoven and Williams as selbst
- 2022 · Williams: Violin Concerto No. 2 & Selected Film Themes as Self - Conductor
- 2022 · John Williams & Berliner Philharmonic - The Berlin Concert as Himself
- 2021 · John Williams Live - Music from the Movies as
- 2021 · John Williams dirigiert John Williams mit den Berliner Philharmonikern as
- 2020 · A World Without Beethoven? as Self
- 2020 · John Williams: Live in Vienna as Self - Conductor
- 2020 · Disney Gallery / Star Wars: The Mandalorian as Self - Composer (archive footage)
- 2020 · The Skywalker Legacy as Self
- 2019 · Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as Oma Tres
- 2019 · Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound as Self (archive footage)
- 2019 · Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge - Adventure Awaits as Self
- 2018 · Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood as Self - Conductor
- 2017 · Spielberg as Self
- 2017 · Score: A Film Music Documentary as Self
- 2016 · John Williams at the BBC as self
- 2016 · John Williams: The Seventh Symphony as Self (archive footage)
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as
- 2015 · A John Williams Celebration as Self
- 2013 · Lincoln: An American Journey as Self
- 2012 · The 'E.T.' Journals as Self
- 2011 · AFI's Master Class - The Art of Collaboration: Steven Spielberg and John Williams as Self
- 2011 · A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later as Self
- 2011 · Return to Jurassic Park as Self
- 2010 · Music as Self
- 2010 · Deconstructing Dad: The Music, Machines and Mystery of Raymond Scott as Himself
- 2010 · Jaws: The Inside Story as Self
- 2009 · Creating the World of Harry Potter as Self - Composer
- 2009 · Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me as Self / Performer
- 2009 · The Shark Is Still Working: The Impact & Legacy of "Jaws" as Self
- 2009 · The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story as Self
- 2009 · No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos as Self
- 2007 · Love Will Tear Us Apart as
- 2006 · You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman as Self
- 2006 · Frankie Laine: An American Dreamer as Self
- 2005 · Star Wars: Within a Minute - The Making of Episode III as Self
- 2005 · Star Wars: A Musical Journey as
- 2004 · Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball? as Self
- 2004 · The Revamping of Dracula as Self
- 2004 · When Star Wars Ruled the World as Self
- 2004 · Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy as Self
- 2003 · The Music of 'Indiana Jones' as Self
- 2003 · Catch Me If You Can: Behind the Camera as Self
- 2002 · The Music of E.T.: A Discussion with John Williams as Self
- 2001 · The Beginning: Making Episode I as Self
- 2001 · The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' as Self
- 2001 · Taking Flight: The Development of 'Superman' as Self
- 2001 · Plotting 'Family Plot' as Self
- 2001 · Making 'Superman': Filming the Legend as Self
- 1997 · The Making of 'The Lost World' as Self
- 1997 · Star Wars: The Magic & the Mystery as Self
- 1997 · In the Teeth of Jaws as Self
- 1996 · The Making of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' as Self
- 1996 · The Making of '1941' as Self
- 1995 · The Making of 'Jaws' as Self
- 1992 · The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as
- 1989 · The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball as Self
- 1983 · From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga as Self
- 1980 · The Making of The Empire Strikes Back as Self
- 1980 · Star Wars: Music by John Williams as Self
- 1978 · The Kennedy Center Honors as Self
- 1978 · Star Wars Concert as Self
- 1977 · Previn and the Pittsburgh as Self
- 1973 · The American Film Institute Salute to ... as Self
- 1968 · 60 Minutes as Self
- 1956 · Playhouse 90 as Self (Pianist)
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self