John Williams - Bio
In 1958, the silver screen
was introduced to who
would become the most
popular film composer
ever, John Williams.
Working with great
directors, such as Steven
Spielberg, George Lucas
and Oliver Stone, his
music captured our hearts,
music that tells its own
story. In 1977, John
Williams composed the
music for Star Wars, a
score that saw the return
of symphonic music to the
big screen and changed
the film music industry
forever.
Born February 8, 1932 in New York City, John began his love for music
at a very young age. His father worked in New York playing for the
CBS Orchestra at the same time John was studying piano, and through
his father's connections John met people in the music business. At
times when the orchestra piano player could not make performances,
John was asked to play with them.
In 1948 he moved to Los Angeles with his family where he started
studying composition, which lead to his first movie score in 1958 for a
film called Daddy O. This was just the beginning. John went on to
compose scores which included television movies like Jane Eyre, and
shows like Gilligan's Island.
He also composed for more than eighty movies. Some of them
included Jaws, Superman, the Star Wars Trilogy (most known),
Schindler's List, and Saving Private Ryan. He also composed the
themes for the 1984, '88, and '96 Olympic Games.
In 1974, Williams paired up for the first time with director Steven
Spielberg on a film called, The Sugarland Express. This lead to writing
the score for Spielberg's Jaws, and it was Spielberg who introduced
John to George Lucas. Since then, John has composed the music for
most of Spielberg and George Lucas' films.
" Many scores are improvised variations on one theme, but John has
integrity, crafted with harmony, melody, many themes, and
orchestration" - Spielberg.
Sometimes Spielberg would write scenes around John's music.
John has also conducted at other occasions other than for the silver
screen. In 1980, he became principal conductor to the Boston Pops
Orchestra until his retirement in 1993 and has been guest conductor to
the Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and London Symphony
orchestras.
Of the seventy-five films, he received Academy Awards for Fiddler on
the Roof, Jaws, Star Wars, ET, and Schindler's List, and received more
than 34 nominations, which were just under the Original Score
category.
Some of his personal albums include: George Gershwin: America, The
Dream Goes On, a Spielberg/Williams collaboration, and
Unforgettable: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra. One of the major factors
that makes John the greatest silver screen composer is the way his
music seems to have a strong effect on the movie itself. For example,
when I listen to Schindler's List, the dramatic sound of the lonely violin
seems to sing out above the rest of the orchestra, as if it were one of
the members of the holocaust singing to god to spare their life.
John Williams Filmography
1.
3.
5.
7.
Daddy-O (1958)
I Passed for White (1960)
Bachelor Flat (1962)
Gidget Goes to Rome (1963)
2.
6.
8.
Because They're Young (1960)
4.
The Secret Ways (1961)
Diamond Head (1963)
The Killers (1964)
9.
None But the Brave (1965)
10. John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965)
11.
The Rare Breed (1966)
12.
How to Steal a Million (1966) 13.
The Plainsman (1966)
14. Not With My Wife, You Don't! (1966)
15.
Penelope (1966)
16. A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
17.
Valley of the Dolls
(1967)
18. Fitzwilly (1967)
19. Heidi (TV: 1968)
20. Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
(1969)
21.
Goodbye, Mr Chips (1969)
22. The Reivers (1969)
23. Story of a Woman (1970)
24. Jane Eyre (TV: 1971)
25. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
26. The Cowboys (1972)
27. The Screaming Woman (TV: 1972)
28. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
29. Pete 'n' Tillie (1972)
30. Images (1972)
31.
Tom Sawyer (1973)
32. The Long Goodbye (1973)
33. The Man Who Loved Cat
Dancing (1973)
34. The Paper Chase (1973)
35. Cinderella Liberty (1973)
36. Conrak (1974)
37. The Sugarland Express (1974)
38. Earthquake (1974)
39. The Towering Inferno
(1974)
40. The Eiger Sanction (1975)
41. Jaws (1975)
42. Family Plot (1976)
43. The Missouri Breaks
(1976)
44. Midway (1976)
45. Black Sunday (1977)
46. Star Wars (1977)
47. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
48. The Fury (1978)
49. Jaws 2 (1978)
50. Superman (1978)
51.
Dracula (1979)
52. 1941 (1979)
53. The Empire Strikes Back
(1980)
54. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 55. Heartbeeps (1981)
56. ET: The Extra-Terrestial (1982)
57. Monsignor (1982)
58. Return of the Jedi (1983)
59. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
60. The River (1984)
61. Spacecamp (1986)
62. The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
63. Empire of the Sun
(1987)
64. The Accidental Tourist (1988)
65. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
66. Born on the Fourth of July (1989) 67. Always (1989)
68. Stanley and Iris (1990)
69. Presumed Innocent (1990)
70. Home Alone (1990)
71.
Hook (1991)
72. JFK (1991)
73. Far and Away (1992)
74. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
75. Jurrasic Park (1992)
76. Schindler's List (1993)
77. Sabrina (1995)
78. Nixon (1995)
79. Sleepers (1996)
80. Rosewood (1997)
81. The Lost World (1997)
82. Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
83. Amistad (1997)
84. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
85. Stepmom (1998)
86. The Phantom Menace (1999)
87. Angela's Ashes (1999)
88. The Unfinished Journey (TV: 1999)
89. The Patriot (2000)
90. A.I. (2001)
91. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
92. Attack of the Clones (2002) 93. Minority Report (2002)
94. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
95. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
96. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
97. The Terminal (2004)
98. Revenge of the Sith (2005)
99. War of the Worlds (2005)
100. Memoirs of a Geisha
(2005)
101. Munich (2005)
102. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
103. Superman Returns (2006)
104. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Scull (2008)
105. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
106. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
107. Jurrasic Park IV (2009)
108. War Horse (2011)
109. The Adventures of TinTin (2011)
110. Lincoln (2012)
111. The Book Thief (2013)
112. Star Wars Episode VII (2015)