John Williams
Sound
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.
TV Shows(9)
Disney Gallery / Star Wars: The Mandalorian
Self - Composer (archive footage)
2020
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
1978
Previn and the Pittsburgh
Self
1977
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
1973
60 Minutes
Self
1968
Playhouse 90
Self (Pianist)
1956
The Oscars
Self
1953
Movies(74)
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
Self
2025
Henry Mancini: 100 at the Hollywood Bowl
Self
2024
Music by John Williams
Self - Composer
2024
John Williams: A Legacy In Sound
Self
2024
Disney Legends Awards Ceremony
Self
2024
John Williams in Tokyo
Self
2024
Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford
Self
2023
The Making of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Self
2023
Anne-Sophie Mutter - Vivace
Self
2023
The Fabelmans: A Family in Film
Self
2023
If These Walls Could Sing
Self
2022
Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen
self
2022
The Stories of West Side Story
Self
2022
Ennio
Self
2022
Anne-Sophie Mutter, John Williams & Friends: Beethoven and Williams
selbst
2022
Williams: Violin Concerto No. 2 & Selected Film Themes
Self - Conductor
2022
John Williams & the Berlin Philharmonic - The Berlin Concert
Himself
2022
John Williams Live - Music from the Movies
2021
A World Without Beethoven?
Self
2020
John Williams: Live in Vienna
Self - Conductor
2020
The Skywalker Legacy
Self
2020
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Oma Tres
2019
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Self (archive footage)
2019
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge - Adventure Awaits
Self
2019
Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood
Self - Conductor
2018
Spielberg
Self
2017
Score: A Film Music Documentary
Self
2017
John Williams at the BBC
self
2016
John Williams: The Seventh Symphony
Self (archive footage)
2016
A John Williams Celebration
Self
2015
Lincoln: An American Journey
Self
2013
The 'E.T.' Journals
Self
2012
AFI's Master Class - The Art of Collaboration: Steven Spielberg and John Williams
Self
2011
A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later
Self
2011
Return to Jurassic Park
Self
2011
Music
Self
2010
Deconstructing Dad: The Music, Machines and Mystery of Raymond Scott
Himself
2010
Jaws: The Inside Story
Self
2010
Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me
Self / Performer
2009
The Shark Is Still Working
Self
2009
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story
Self
2009
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
Self
2009
Love Will Tear Us Apart
2007
You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman
Self
2006
Frankie Laine: An American Dreamer
Self
2006
Star Wars: Within a Minute - The Making of Episode III
Self
2005
Star Wars: A Musical Journey
2005
Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?
Self (archive footage)
2004
The Revamping of Dracula
Self
2004
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy
Self
2004
When Star Wars Ruled the World
Self
2004
The Music of 'Indiana Jones'
Self
2003
Catch Me If You Can: Behind the Camera
Self
2003
Building a Scene
2003
The Music of E.T.: A Discussion with John Williams
Self
2002
The Beginning: Making Episode I
Self
2001
The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'
Self
2001
Taking Flight: The Development of 'Superman'
Self
2001
Making 'Superman': Filming the Legend
Self
2001
Plotting 'Family Plot'
Self
2001
The Making of 'The Lost World'
Self
1997
Star Wars: The Magic & the Mystery
Self
1997
In the Teeth of Jaws
Self
1997
The Making of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'
Self
1996
The Making of '1941'
Self
1996
The Making of 'Jaws'
Self
1995
The Hollywood Soundtrack Story
Self
1995
The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball
Self
1989
From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga
Self
1983
The Making of The Empire Strikes Back
Self
1980
Star Wars: Music by John Williams
Self
1980
The Royal Variety Performance 1977
1977
Montage: Great Film Composers and The Piano
Live at the Shrine! John Williams and the World Premiere of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary
Self