John Williams
- Known for
- Sound
- Born
- February 8, 1932 (age 94)
- Birthplace
- Queens, New York City, New York, USA
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Disclosure Day
Movie · Original Music Composer
The slapstick slasher movie
Movie · Musician
Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord
TV · Music · 3 eps
Jurassic World Rebirth
Movie · Music
Superman
Movie · Music
The Cinema of John Williams (Indiana Jones, E.T., Star Wars and more)
Movie · Original Music Composer
OSN: Musiche dall'America con Gianna Fratta e Alessandro Taverna
Movie · Original Music Composer
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy - Pieces of the Past
TV · Music · 4 eps
Music by John Williams
Movie · Music
Jurassic World: Chaos Theory
TV · Main Title Theme Composer · 39 eps
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy
TV · Music · 4 eps
Eastwood Symphonic
Movie · Music
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Movie · Original Music Composer, Conductor, Orchestrator
Jurassic World Dominion
Movie · Main Title Theme Composer
Piano Cinéma
Movie · Original Music Composer
Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Hidden Adventure
Movie · Main Title Theme Composer
The Fabelmans
Movie · Original Music Composer
OSN: Il ballo al Cinema con John Axelrod
Movie · Original Music Composer
Obi-Wan Kenobi
TV · Main Title Theme Composer · 6 eps
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi
TV · Music · 1 ep
The Book of Boba Fett
TV · Music · 1 ep
Star Wars: The Bad Batch
TV · Music · 1 ep
For the Empire
TV · Music · 3 eps
John Williams: Live in Vienna
Movie · Music
LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special
Movie · Music
Battle at Big Rock
Movie · Main Title Theme Composer
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Movie · Original Music Composer
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Movie · Original Music Composer
Dear Basketball
Movie · Music
The Post
Movie · Original Music Composer
Hoshino
Movie · Original Music Composer
The BFG
Movie · Original Music Composer
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Book Thief
Movie · Original Music Composer
Lincoln
Movie · Original Music Composer
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Darth Maul Returns
Movie · Theme Song Performance
The Adventures of Tintin
Movie · Original Music Composer
War Horse
Movie · Original Music Composer
LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace
Movie · Original Music Composer
LEGO Star Wars: Bombad Bounty
Movie · Main Title Theme Composer
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Movie · Original Music Composer
Lego Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Brick
Movie · Music
A Timeless Call
Movie · Music
Production Diary: Making of 'The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'
Movie · Original Music Composer
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Movie · Original Music Composer
Päronet och bajskorven
Movie · Music
War of the Worlds
Movie · Original Music Composer, Conductor
Munich
Movie · Original Music Composer
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Movie · Original Music Composer
Memoirs of a Geisha
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Terminal
Movie · Original Music Composer
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Movie · Original Music Composer
Minority Report
Movie · Original Music Composer
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Movie · Original Music Composer
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Movie · Original Music Composer
Catch Me If You Can
Movie · Original Music Composer
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Movie · Original Music Composer
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Patriot
Movie · Original Music Composer
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Movie · Original Music Composer
Angela's Ashes
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Unfinished Journey
Movie · Original Music Composer
Saving Private Ryan
Movie · Original Music Composer, Conductor
Stepmom
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Movie · Original Music Composer
Seven Years in Tibet
Movie · Original Music Composer
Amistad
Movie · Original Music Composer
Rosewood
Movie · Original Music Composer
Sleepers
Movie · Original Music Composer
Atlanta 1996: Games of the XXVI Olympiad - Opening Ceremony
Movie · Conductor
Nixon
Movie · Original Music Composer
Sabrina
Movie · Original Music Composer, Songs
Return of the Ewok
Movie · Music
Jurassic Park
Movie · Original Music Composer
Schindler's List
Movie · Original Music Composer
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Movie · Original Music Composer
Far and Away
Movie · Original Music Composer
JFK
Movie · Original Music Composer
Hook
Movie · Original Music Composer, Songs
Home Alone
Movie · Original Music Composer
Presumed Innocent
Movie · Original Music Composer
Stanley & Iris
Movie · Original Music Composer
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Movie · Original Music Composer
Born on the Fourth of July
Movie · Original Music Composer
Always
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Accidental Tourist
Movie · Original Music Composer
Empire of the Sun
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Witches of Eastwick
Movie · Original Music Composer, Conductor
SpaceCamp
Movie · Original Music Composer
Amazing Stories
Movie · Original Music Composer
Amazing Stories
TV · Main Title Theme Composer · 45 eps
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Movie · Original Music Composer
The River
Movie · Original Music Composer
Return of the Jedi
Movie · Original Music Composer
Cinderella Revolution
Movie · Music
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Movie · Original Music Composer
Monsignor
Movie · Original Music Composer
Yes, Giorgio
Movie · Songs
The Man Who Saved the World
Movie · Music
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Movie · Original Music Composer
Heartbeeps
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Empire Strikes Back
Movie · Original Music Composer
Superman II
Movie · Music, Theme Song Performance
1941
Movie · Original Music Composer
Dracula
Movie · Original Music Composer
Jaws 2
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Fury
Movie · Original Music Composer
Superman
Movie · Original Music Composer
Star Wars
Movie · Original Music Composer
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Movie · Original Music Composer
Black Sunday
Movie · Original Music Composer
Bloodthirsty Hawk
Movie · Music
Family Plot
Movie · Original Music Composer
Midway
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Missouri Breaks
Movie · Original Music Composer
Jaws
Movie · Original Music Composer, Conductor
The Eiger Sanction
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Sugarland Express
Movie · Original Music Composer, Conductor
Conrack
Movie · Original Music Composer
Earthquake
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Towering Inferno
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Long Goodbye
Movie · Original Music Composer
Tom Sawyer
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
Movie · Original Music Composer
Cinderella Liberty
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Paper Chase
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Poseidon Adventure
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Screaming Woman
Movie · Main Title Theme Composer, Original Music Composer
Pete 'n' Tillie
Movie · Original Music Composer
Images
Movie · Orchestrator, Conductor, Original Music Composer
The Cowboys
Movie · Original Music Composer
Fiddler on the Roof
Movie · Orchestrator, Conductor, Music Arranger, Original Music Composer
Jane Eyre
Movie · Original Music Composer
Story of a Woman
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Reivers
Movie · Original Music Composer
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Movie · Original Music Composer, Conductor, Music Supervisor
Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
Movie · Original Music Composer
Heidi
Movie · Original Music Composer
Sergeant Ryker
Movie · Original Music Composer
Valley of the Dolls
Movie · Original Music Composer
A Guide for the Married Man
Movie · Original Music Composer
Ghostbreakers
Movie · Original Music Composer
Fitzwilly
Movie · Original Music Composer
How to Steal a Million
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Rare Breed
Movie · Original Music Composer
Penelope
Movie · Original Music Composer, Songs
The Plainsman
Movie · Original Music Composer
Not With My Wife, You Don't!
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Kathryn Reed Story
Movie · Original Music Composer
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
Movie · Original Music Composer, Conductor
None but the Brave
Movie · Original Music Composer
Lost in Space
TV · Original Music Composer · 83 eps
The Killers
Movie · Original Music Composer
Nightmare in Chicago
Movie · Original Music Composer
Redcap
TV · Original Music Composer · 26 eps
Gidget Goes to Rome
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Best Years
Movie · Music
Stark Fear
Movie · Music
Flashing Spikes
Movie · Original Music Composer
Diamond Head
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Secret Ways
Movie · Original Music Composer
Bachelor Flat
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Guns of Navarone
Movie · Music Arranger
Alcoa Premiere
TV · Music Score Producer · 1 ep
I Passed for White
Movie · Original Music Composer
Because They're Young
Movie · Original Music Composer
Some Like It Hot
Movie · Musician
Daddy-O
Movie · Original Music Composer
Bachelor Father
TV · Original Music Composer · 57 eps
Today
TV · Conductor · 1 ep