ethanedwards
March 13th, 2006, 06:44 AM
JOHN WILLIAMS
511
INFORMATION FROM IMDb
Date of birth (location)
8 February 1932
Floral Park, Long Island, New York, USA
Sometimes Credited As:
John Williams Jr. / John T. Williams / Johnny T. Williams / Johnny Williams
Birth name
John Towner Williams
Spouse
Samantha Winslow (9 June 1980 - present)
Barbara Ruick (1956 - 3 March 1974) (her death) 3 children
Trade mark
Thundering theme pieces for major science fiction and fantasy films.
Extensive use of leitmotifs in scores.
Trivia
Conductor of the Boston Pops for 12 years.
Composed for all but two of Steven Spielberg's feature films.
Composed his first symphony at the urging of fellow film composer Bernard Herrmann.
Performed the famous piano riff on the original recording of Henry Mancini's theme to "Peter Gunn" (1958).
Father of composer Joseph Williams. The two worked together on Return of the Jedi, collaborating on the song performed by the alien band in Jabba's Palace. However, the song was replaced for the Special Edition.
Worked extensively with the London Symphony Orchestra
Son of jazz musician Johnny Williams, who was best known as the drummer in The Raymond Scott Quintette.
His son, Joseph Williams, became a member of the band Toto in 1986.
2002 distinguished him as the most Oscar-nominated living individual, with an astounding 41 nominations. In 2003 his total increased to 42, after receiving a nomination for Catch Me If You Can (2002). In 2004, he received his 43rd nomination, for "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".
In 2006, he tied Alfred Newman for the most number of Oscar nominations (45) received by a composer-conductor, when he was nominated for "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Munich".
Son-in-law of actors Mel Ruick and Lurene Tuttle
Is a recipient of the prestigious Connor Award given by the Phi Alpha Tau brotherhood of Emerson College located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Composer of the biggest-selling instrumental single of all-time, and the only one to be officially awarded Platinum status - 2 million units by the RIAA, Meco's recording of "Star Wars Theme and Cantina Band". And, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, Meco's "Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk" album also outsold Williams' soundtrack by 300,000 units.
Grand marshal, Tournament of Roses parade [2004]
Recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004, along with Elton John, Joan Sutherland, Warren Beatty, and Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.
Attended UCLA, Los Angeles City College & Juilliard
Composed the score to Alfred Hitchcock's final film.
Honorary Member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honrary Band Fraternity. Member of Boston University Chapter Theta Beta, Brother # 93, Nickname: "Pops"
Personal quotes
"His chameleon adaptability was a prerequisite to longevity and success in Hollywood. We used to call him Gorgeous. He was the golden boy, a beautiful presence. His music had a freshness, and he had a freshness." - about his friend Jerry Goldsmith.
Salary
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) $100,000
Mini biography
As one of the best known, awarded, and financially successful composers in US history, John Williams is as easy to recall as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein, illustrating why he is "America's composer" time again. With a massive list of awards that includes over 41 Oscar nominations (five wins), twenty-odd Gold and Platinum Records, and a slew of Emmy (two wins), Golden Globe (three wins), Grammy (18 wins), National Board of Review (including a Career Achievement Award), Saturn (six wins), and BAFTA (seven wins) citations, along with honorary doctorate degrees numbering in the teens, Williams is undoubtedly one of the most respected composers for Cinema. He's led countless national and international orchestras, most notably as the nineteenth conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980-1993, helming three Pops tours of the US and Japan during his tenure. He currently serves as the Pop's Conductor Laureate. Also to his credit is a parallel career as an author of serious, and some not-so-serious, concert works - performed by the likes of Mstislav Rostropovich, André Previn, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Leonard Slatkin, James Ingram, Dale Clevenger, and Joshua Bell. Of particular interests are his Essay for Strings, a jazzy Prelude & Fugue, the multimedia presentation American Journey (aka The Unfinished Journey (1999)), a Sinfonietta for Winds, a song cycle featuring poems by Rita Dove, concerti for flute, violin, clarinet, trumpet, tuba, cello, bassoon and horn, fanfares for the 1984, 1988 and 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and a song co-written with Alan & Marilyn Bergman for the Special Olympics! But such a list probably warrants a more detailed background...
Born in Long Island, New York on February 8, 1932, John Towner Williams discovered music almost immediately, due in no small measure to being the son of a percussionist for CBS Radio and the Raymond Scott Quintet. After moving to Los Angeles in 1948, the young pianist and leader of his own jazz band started experimenting with arranging tunes; at age 15, he determined he was going to become a concert pianist; at 19, he premiered his first original composition, a piano sonata.
He attended both UCLA and the Los Angeles City College, studying orchestration under MGM musical associate Robert van Eps and being privately tutored by composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, until conducting for the first time during three years with the U.S. Air Force. His return to the states brought him to Julliard, where renowned piano pedagogue Madame Rosina Lhevinne helped Williams hone his performance skills. He played in jazz clubs to pay his way; still, she encouraged him to focus on composing. So it was back to L.A., with the future maestro ready to break into the Hollywood scene.
Williams found work with the Hollywood studios as a piano player, eventually accompanying such fare such as the TV series "Peter Gunn" (1958), South Pacific (1958), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), as well as forming a surprising friendship with Bernard Herrmann. At age 24, 'Johnny Williams' became a staff arranger at Columbia and then at 20th Century-Fox, orchestrating for Alfred Newman and Lionel Newman, Dimitri Tiomkin, Franz Waxman, and other Golden Age notables. In the field of popular music, he performed and arranged for the likes of Vic Damone, Doris Day, and Mahalia Jackson... all while courting actress/singer Barbara Ruick, who became his wife until her death in 1974. John & Barbara had three children; their daughter is now a doctor, and their two sons, Joseph and Mark, are rock musicians.
The orchestrating gigs led to serious composing jobs for television, notably "Alcoa Premiere" (1961), "Checkmate" (1960), "Gilligan's Island" (1964), "Lost in Space" (1965), "Land of the Giants" (1968), and his Emmy-winning scores for Heidi (1968) (TV) and _Jane Eyre (1970)_ . _Daddy-O (1959)_ and Because They're Young (1960) brought his original music to the big theatres, but he was soon typecast doing comedies. His efforts in the genre helped guarantee his work on William Wyler's How to Steal a Million (1966), however, a major picture that immediately led to larger projects. Of course, his arrangements continued to garner attention, and he won his first Oscar for adapting Fiddler on the Roof (1971).
During the '70s, he was King of Disaster Scores with The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Earthquake (1974) and The Towering Inferno (1974). His psychological score for Images (1972/I) remains one of the most innovative works in soundtrack history. But his Americana - particularly The Reivers (1969) - is what caught the ear of director Steven Spielberg, then preparing for his first feature, The Sugarland Express (1974). When Spielberg reunited with Williams on Jaws (1975), they established themselves as a blockbuster team, the composer gained his first Academy Award for Original Score, and Spielberg promptly recommended Williams to a friend, George Lucas. In 1977, John Williams re-popularized the epic cinema sound of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman, and other composers from the Hollywood Golden Age: Star Wars (1977) became the best selling score-only soundtrack of all time, and spawned countless musical imitators. For the next five years, though the music in Hollywood changed, John Williams wrote big, brassy scores for big, brassy films - The Fury (1978), Superman (1978), 1941 (1979), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) ... An experiment during this period, Heartbeeps (1981), flopped. There was a long-term change of pace, nonetheless, as Williams fell in love with an interior designer and married once more.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) brought about his third Oscar, and The River (1984), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Accidental Tourist (1988), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) added variety to the 1980s, as he returned to television with work on Amazing Stories and themes for NBC, including NBC Nightly News. The '80s also brought the only exceptions to the composer's collaboration with Steven Spielberg - others scored both Spielberg's segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) and The Color Purple (1985).
Intending to retire, the composer's output became sporadic during the 1990s, particularly after the exciting Jurassic Park (1993) and the masterful, Oscar-winning Schindler's List (1993). This lighter workload, coupled with a number of hilarious references on "The Simpsons" (1989) actually seemed to renew interest in his music. Two Home Alone films (1990, 1992), JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), Sleepers (1996), Seven Years in Tibet (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Angela's Ashes (1999), and a return to familiar territory with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) recalled his creative diversity of the '70s.
In this millennium, the artist shows no interest in slowing down. His relationships with Spielberg and Lucas continue in Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001), the remaining Star Wars prequels (2002, 2005), Minority Report (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), and a promised fourth Indiana Jones film. There is a more focused effort on concert works, as well, including a theme for the new Walt Disney Concert Hall and a rumored light opera. But one certain highlight is his musical magic for the world of Harry Potter (2001, 2002, 2004, etc.), which he also arranged into a concert suite geared toward teaching children about the symphony orchestra. His music remains on the whistling lips of people around the globe, in the concert halls, on the promenades, in album collections, sports arenas, and parades, and, this writer hopes, touching some place in ourselves. So keep those ears ready wherever you go, 'cause you will likely hear a bit of John Williams on your way.
IMDb mini-biography by
Jeffrey Wheeler
Biography
from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
It's impossible to think of Star Wars-or many other megahit movies-without calling to mind the stirring musical score crafted by this talented, prolific, award-winning composer. A Juilliard-trained musician who recorded several albums as a jazz pianist in the late 1950s, arranged albums for various pop stars, and worked as a studio musician (he's the one playing the piano vamp for Henry Mancini's memorable "Peter Gunn" theme), he took up scoring films and TV shows shortly thereafter. As "Johnny" Williams, he composed the memorable theme songs and musical backgrounds for "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" and "Lost in Space," among other 1960s TV shows. While his early scores-for Because They're Young (1960), Bachelor Flat (1962), Gidget Goes to Rome (1963), and John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965), among others-weren't particularly noteworthy, Williams came into his own with The Killers (1964), None But the Brave (1965), and especially Valley of the Dolls (1967), for which he earned the first of many Academy Award nominations. He won an Oscar for adapting Fiddler on the Roof (1971), while Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Reivers (both 1969), Images, The Poseidon Adventure (both 1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), and The Towering Inferno (1974) all got Academy Award nods, but it was his throbbing, much-imitated score for Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) that won Williams his second Oscar and began a long and fruitful association with Spielberg which continues today.
His scores for Star Wars (and its sequels), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Superman (1978), and E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) were inexorably linked with those films' success, and their very identities (Star Wars and E. T won Oscars). Many of his soundtrack albums became best-sellers, and Williams' name became arguably the best known in movie music history. What's more, he al most singlehandedly returned the "big" orchestral film score to favor in the late 1970s. From 1980 to 1993 he conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra, and frequently integrated his film music into the orchestra's concerts.
Copyright © 1994 Leonard Maltin, used by arrangement with Signet, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.
Composer - filmography
1. Battle Angel (2009) (pre-production) (unconfirmed)
2. Jurassic Park IV (2008) (pre-production) (themes)
3. Indiana Jones 4 (2007) (pre-production)
4. Untitled Steven Spielberg/Abraham Lincoln Project (2007) (pre-production)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) (filming) (themes)
6. Superman Returns (2006) (post-production) (main theme)
7. Munich (2005)
8. Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
9. The H.G. Wells Legacy (2005) (V)
10. Steven Spielberg and the Original 'War of the Worlds' (2005) (V)
11. Scoring 'War of the Worlds' (2005) (V)
12. Designing the Enemy: Tripods and Aliens (2005) (V)
13. We Are Not Alone (2005) (V)
14. 'War of the Worlds': Revisiting the Invasion (2005) (V)
15. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, West Coast - War (2005) (V)
16. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, West Coast - Destruction (2005) (V)
17. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, East Coast - Exile (2005) (V)
18. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, East Coast - Beginning (2005) (V)
19. 'War of the Worlds': Previsualization (2005) (V)
20. 'War of the Worlds': Characters - The Family Unit (2005) (V)
21. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) (themes)
22. War of the Worlds (2005)
23. "Science of Star Wars" (2005) (mini) TV Series
24. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
25. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005/II) (VG)
26. 'Star Wars': A Musical Journey (2005) (V)
27. Star Wars: Revelations (2005) (V) (from "Star Wars)
28. The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005) (TV) (from "ET") (uncredited)
29. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords (2004) (VG) (from "Star Wars")
... aka Star Wars: KOTOR II (USA: short title)
30. Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004) (TV)
31. "Jack & Bobby" (2004) TV Series (main title theme from film "The Patriot")
32. "Motormagasinet" (2004) TV Series (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Star Wars") (segment "Tannhäuser") (archive footage)
33. World's Finest (2004) (theme from "Superman")
34. The Terminal (2004)
35. "HBO First Look"
- The Terminal (2004) TV Episode
36. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
... aka Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version)
37. 'Saving Private Ryan': Miller and His Platoon (2004) (V)
38. 'Saving Private Ryan': An Introduction (2004) (V)
39. 'Saving Private Ryan': Parting Thoughts (2004) (V)
40. 'Saving Private Ryan': Music and Sound (2004) (V)
41. 'Saving Private Ryan': Re-Creating Omaha Beach (2004) (V)
42. 'Saving Private Ryan': Boot Camp (2004) (V)
43. 'Saving Private Ryan': Looking Into the Past (2004) (V)
44. Making 'Saving Private Ryan' (2004) (V)
45. "Ich bin ein Star, holt mich hier raus!" (2004) TV Series (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark")
46. "Athens 2004: Games of the XXVIII Olympiad" (2004) (mini) TV Series (song "Summon the Heroes")
47. Once Upon a Jedi (2004)
48. The Revamping of Dracula (2004) (V)
49. "Star Wars: Clone Wars" (2003) TV Series
50. Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy (2003) (V)
51. Herr Lehmann (2003) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
... aka Berlin Blues (Europe: English title)
52. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003) (VG) (from "Star Wars")
... aka Star Wars: KOTOR (USA: short title)
53. Catch Me If You Can: Frank Abagnale, Jr., Between Reality and Fiction (2003) (V)
54. 'Catch Me If You Can': Behind the Camera (2003) (V) (from 'Catch Me If You Can')
55. Scoring 'Catch Me If You Can' (2003) (V)
56. "Smallville"
... aka Smallville Beginnings (USA: rerun title)
... aka Smallville: Superman the Early Years (UK: promotional title)
- Rosetta (2003) TV Episode (from "Superman (1978)")
57. Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (2003) (VG) (theme)
58. Declaration of Independence (2003) (V)
59. 'Minority Report': The Players (2002) (V)
60. The World of 'Minority Report': An Introduction (2002) (V)
61. Deconstructing Precog Visions (2002) (V)
62. Deconstructing Precrime and Precogs (2002) (V)
63. Deconstructing Vehicles of the Future (2002) (V)
64. Deconstructing the Spider Sequence (2002) (V)
65. Final Report (2002) (V)
66. ILM and 'Minority Report' (2002) (V)
67. 'Minority Report': The Story, the Debate (2002) (V)
68. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
69. Josh Groban In Concert (2002) (TV) (song "For Always" from film "A.I")
70. J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and Me (2002) (TV) (from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") (uncredited)
71. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
72. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2002) (VG)
73. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: 20th Anniversary Celebration (2002) (V)
74. Star Wars: Star Wars Galaxies - An Empire Divided (2002) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
75. Minority Report (2002)
76. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
... aka Attack of the Clones: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version (promotional title))
... aka Star Wars II (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (USA: video box title)
77. Broken Allegiance (2002) ("Star Wars" theme)
... aka Star Wars: The Broken Allegiance (Australia)
78. Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast (2002) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
79. The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002) (TV) (from "Artificial Intelligence: AI") (from "ET") (uncredited)
80. Reflections of Evil (2002)
81. Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter (2002) (VG)
82. Special Visual Effects and Animation: ILM (2002) (V)
83. Lighting AI (2002) (V)
84. Creating AI (2002) (V)
85. AI: A Portrait of David (2002) (V)
86. The E.T. Reunion (2002) (V)
87. Dressing 'AI' (2002) (V)
88. The Dinosaurs of 'Jurassic Park III' (2001) (V) (from "Jurassic Park")
... aka The New Dinosaurs of 'Jurassic Park III' (USA: DVD box title)
89. The Making of 'Jurassic Park III' (2001) (V) (from "Jurassic Park")
90. The Jurassic Park Phenomenon: A Discussion with Author Michael Crichton (2001) (V)
91. R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2001) (TV)
92. Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2 (2001) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
... aka Rogue Leader (USA: short title)
... aka Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II (USA: short title)
93. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
... aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Canada: English title) (International: English title) (UK)
... aka Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (USA)
94. The Making of 'Midway' (2001) (V)
95. Don't Say a Word (2001) (from the movie "Home Alone")
96. Jurassic Park III (2001) (themes)
... aka JP3 (USA: promotional abbreviation)
97. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
... aka A.I. Artificial Intelligence (USA: poster title)
98. The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (2001) (V)
99. The Making of 'Jaws 2' (2001) (V)
100. John Williams: The Music of 'Jaws 2' (2001) (V)
101. Jaws 2: A Portrait by Actor Keith Gordon (2001) (V)
102. Pearl Harbor (2001) (uncredited) (music from Midway, 1976)
... aka Pearl Harbour (UK: promotional title)
103. "Yago, pasión morena" (2001) TV Series (from "Presumed Innocent") (uncredited)
... aka Yago, Pure Passion (International: English title)
104. Plotting 'Family Plot' (2001) (V)
105. Our Favorite Things: Christmas in Vienna (2000) (TV) (song "Somewhore in my Memory" from "Home Alone")
106. Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) (from "Star Wars")
... aka The Klumps (Australia)
107. The Patriot (2000)
... aka Patriot, Der (Germany)
108. "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000) TV Series (from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark (1984)')
109. The Unfinished Journey (1999)
110. Angela's Ashes (1999)
111. "Spaced" (1999) TV Series (from "Star Wars")
112. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
... aka Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (USA: video box title)
... aka The Phantom Menace (USA: short title)
113. Return of the Ewok (1999) (V)
114. Trail of Terror (1999) (V) (from "Jaws (1975)") (uncredited)
115. Stepmom (1998)
116. Lost in Space Forever (1998) (TV) (stock music)
117. The Rugrats Movie (1998) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)")
118. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
119. Half Baked (1998) (Jaws theme)
120. Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Mysteries of the Sith (1998) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
121. "Århundredets vidner" (1998) TV Series (episode "I Førerens navn" 1999)
122. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (1998) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
123. Amistad (1997)
124. Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
125. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
126. Rosewood (1997) (also song "The Town Burns")
127. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997/II) (VG)
128. Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II (1997) (VG) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
... aka Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (USA: short title)
129. The Making of 'Lost World' (1997) (V)
130. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (1996) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
131. Sleepers (1996)
132. The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) (theme from "The Long Goodbye")
133. The Olympic Torch Relay (1996) (TV)
134. Nixon (1995)
135. Sabrina (1995)
... aka Sabrina (Germany)
136. The Making of Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' (1995) (V)
137. Now and Then (1995) (song "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me")
138. Baazi (1995) (from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)") (uncredited)
139. Star Wars: Dark Forces (1994) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
140. Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures (1994) (VG)
141. Schindler's List (1993)
142. Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1993) (VG) (from "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)")
143. "Celeste, siempre Celeste" (1993) TV Series (from "Presumed Innocent") (uncredited)
144. Jurassic Park (1993)
... aka JP (USA: promotional abbreviation)
145. Star Wars: Rebel Assault (1993) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
146. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
... aka Home Alone II (USA: short title)
147. Far and Away (1992)
148. Super Star Wars (1992) (VG) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
149. Indiana Jed (1992) (V) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)"...)
... aka Indiana Jed & the Search for the Infinite Power (USA: reissue title (shorter version))
150. Amazing Stories: Book One (1992) (V) (segment "The Mission")
151. The Making of Indiana Jed 'Behind the Scenes' (1992) (V) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)")
152. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (1992) (VG) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark")
... aka Indy 4 (USA: informal short title)
153. JFK (1991)
... aka JFK (France)
154. Hook (1991) (also songs "We Don't Wanna Grow Up", "When You're Alone" and "Pick'em Up")
155. There's Nothing Out There (1991) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)")
156. Home Alone (1990) (songs "Somewhere in My Memory" and "Star of Bethlehem")
157. Presumed Innocent (1990)
158. Stanley & Iris (1990)
159. Wow! (1990) (V) (from various films)
160. Always (1989)
161. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
162. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
163. The Accidental Tourist (1988)
164. "Superman" (1988) TV Series (theme)
165. Superman (1987) (from 'Superman (1978)') (uncredited)
... aka The Indian Superman (India: English title)
166. Empire of the Sun (1987)
167. Back to the Beach (1987) (from "Superman (1978)")
... aka Malibu Beach Girls (USA)
168. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
169. Jaws: The Revenge (1987) (from "Jaws (1975)")
170. The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
171. Star Tours (1987)
172. Indiana Jones in Revenge of the Ancients (1987) (VG) (theme)
173. Jaws (1987) (VG) (theme from "Jaws 2 (1978)")
174. "Sonny Soufflé chok show" (1986) TV Series (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Star Wars") (segment "Tannhäuser") (1986-1987)
175. SpaceCamp (1986)
176. "Amazing Stories" (1985) TV Series (episode "Ghost Train") (episode "The Mission") (theme)
... aka Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories (USA: complete title)
177. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1985) (VG) (theme)
178. From 'Star Wars' to 'Jedi': The Making of a Saga (1985) (V) (Star Wars themes)
179. The Empire Strikes Back (1985) (VG) (from "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)")
180. The River (1984)
181. Best Defense (1984) (song " Raiders March")
182. Top Secret! (1984) (songs)
183. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
184. "Los Angeles 1984: Games of the XXIII Olympiad" (1984) (mini) TV Series (song "Olympic Fanfare and Theme")
185. Star Wars: The Arcade Game (1984) (VG) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
186. The Big Chill (1983) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)")
187. Jaws 3-D (1983) (from "Jaws (1975)")
... aka Jaws 3
... aka Jaws III
188. Superman III (1983) (from "Superman (1978)")
189. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
... aka Return of the Jedi (USA: short title)
... aka Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (USA: video box title)
190. The 55th Annual Academy Awards (1983) (TV) (song "If We Were In Love" from "Yes, Giorgio")
191. "Tak fordi vi kom" (1983) TV Series (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark")
... aka Robin Hat (Denmark: promotional title)
192. Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983) (TV)
193. Star Wars (1983) (VG) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
194. Star Wars: Jedi Arena (1983) (VG) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
195. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - Death Star Battle (1983) (VG) (from 'Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)')
... aka Star Wars: Death Star Battle (USA: short title)
196. Monsignor (1982)
197. Yes, Giorgio (1982)
198. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
... aka E.T. (USA: short title)
... aka E.T. the Extra- Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary (USA: longer version)
199. Aliens from Another Planet (1982) (TV) (theme) (as Johnny Williams)
200. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1982) (VG) (from "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)")
201. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1982) (VG) (uncredited)
202. Heartbeeps (1981)
203. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
... aka Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (USA: video title)
204. Superman II (1980) (from "Superman (1978)")
205. SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (TV) (musical themes)
206. Airplane! (1980) (from "Jaws (1975)")
... aka Flying High (Australia)
207. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
... aka Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (USA: video box title)
... aka The Empire Strikes Back (USA: short title)
208. 1941 (1979)
209. Dracula (1979)
210. Superman (1978) (also song "Can You Read My Mind?") (song title uncredited)
... aka Superman: The Movie
211. The 'Star Wars' Holiday Special (1978) (TV)
212. Jaws 2 (1978)
213. The End (1978) (from "Eiger Sanction, The (1975)")
214. The Fury (1978)
215. The Making of 'Superman: The Movie' (1978) (TV)
216. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
... aka CE3K (USA: informal short title)
... aka Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Special Edition (USA: reissue title)
217. The Making of 'Star Wars' (1977) (TV) (Star Wars themes)
218. Star Wars (1977)
... aka Guerra de las estrellas, La (USA: Spanish title)
... aka Star Wars IV: A New Hope (USA: video box title)
... aka Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (USA: reissue title (new title))
219. Black Sunday (1977)
220. Fei taugh mo neuih (1977) (from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)")
... aka Fei tou mo nu (China: Mandarin title)
... aka The Witch with Flying Head (Hong Kong: English title)
221. Midway (1976)
... aka Battle of Midway (UK)
... aka The Battle of Midway (USA: video title)
222. The Missouri Breaks (1976)
223. Family Plot (1976)
224. Jaws (1975)
225. The Eiger Sanction (1975)
226. The Towering Inferno (1974)
227. Earthquake (1974)
228. The 46th Annual Academy Awards (1974) (TV) (song "Nice To Be Around")
229. The Sugarland Express (1974)
230. Conrack (1974)
231. "The Cowboys" (1974) TV Series
232. The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)
233. The Paper Chase (1973)
234. The Long Goodbye (1973) (title song)
235. Cinderella Liberty (1973)
236. Pete 'n' Tillie (1972) (as John T. Williams)
237. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
238. Images (1972/I)
239. The Screaming Woman (1972) (TV)
240. The Cowboys (1972)
241. "Masterpiece Theatre" (1971) TV Series (American Collection theme)
... aka ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre (USA: new title)
... aka Mobil Masterpiece Theatre (USA)
242. Jane Eyre (1970) (TV)
243. Storia di una donna (1970)
... aka Story of a Woman (USA)
244. "NBC Nightly News" (1970) TV Series
245. The Reivers (1969)
... aka Yellow Winton Flyer
246. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) (background score)
247. Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969)
248. Saturday Adoption (1968) (TV)
... aka CBS Playhouse: Saturday Adoption (USA: series title)
249. Heidi (1968) (TV) (song "A Place of My Own")
... aka Heidi kehrt heim (West Germany)
250. "Land of the Giants" (1968) TV Series (also theme)
251. Sergeant Ryker (1968)
... aka The Case Against Paul Ryker
... aka The Case Against Sergeant Ryker
... aka Torn Between Two Values
252. Fitzwilly (1967) (as Johnny Williams) (also song "Make Me Rainbows")
... aka A Garden of Cucumbers
... aka Fitzwilly Strikes Back (UK)
253. Valley of the Dolls (1967)
254. Ghostbreakers (1967) (TV)
255. A Guide for the Married Man (1967) (as Johnny Williams)
256. Code Name: Heraclitus (1967) (TV) (theme song)
257. Penelope (1966) (as Johnny Williams)
258. Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966) (as Johnny Williams)
259. "The Time Tunnel" (1966) TV Series (also theme) (as Johnny Williams)
260. "The Tammy Grimes Show" (1966) TV Series
261. The Plainsman (1966) (as Johnny Williams)
262. How to Steal a Million (1966) (as Johnny Williams)
... aka How to Steal a Million Dollars and Live Happily Ever After
263. "The Kraft Summer Music Hall" (1966) TV Series
264. The Rare Breed (1966) (as Johnny Williams)
265. Penelope's Fashion Show (1966) (from "Penelope (1966)") (uncredited)
266. "Lost in Space" (1965) TV Series (as Johnny Williams) (also theme)
267. John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1965)
268. None But the Brave (1965) (as Johnny Williams)
... aka Yusha nomi (Japan)
269. The Katherine Reed Story (1965)
270. "Gilligan's Island" (1964) TV Series
271. The Killers (1964) (as Johnny Williams)
... aka Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (USA: promotional title)
272. Nightmare in Chicago (1964) (TV)
... aka Once Upon a Savage Night
273. Gilligan's Island: Marooned (1964) (TV) (as Johnny Williams)
274. "Kraft Suspense Theatre"
- The Case Against Paul Ryker: Part 2 (1963) TV Episode
- The Case Against Paul Ryker: Part 1 (1963) TV Episode
275. "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1963) TV Series
... aka The Chrysler Theater
... aka Universal Star Time (syndication title)
276. Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) (as Johnny Williams)
277. Diamond Head (1963)
278. Stark Fear (1962) (party music)
279. "Alcoa Premiere" (as Johnny T. Williams)
- Flashing Spikes (1962) TV Episode
280. "Empire" (1962) TV Series
... aka Big G (UK)
281. "The Wide Country" (1962) TV Series
282. "The Virginian" (1962) TV Series
... aka The Men from Shiloh (new title)
283. Bachelor Flat (1962)
284. "Kraft Mystery Theater" (1961) TV Series (as Johnny Williams)
285. The Secret Ways (1961) (as Johnny Williams)
286. "Checkmate" (1960) TV Series
287. Because They're Young (1960)
288. I Passed for White (1960)
289. Daddy-O (1958)
... aka Downbeat (UK)
... aka Out on Probation
290. "M Squad" (1957) TV Series (as Johnny Williams)
291. "Wagon Train" (1957) TV Series
... aka Major Adams, Trail Master
292. "Bachelor Father" (1957) TV Series
293. My Gun Is Quick (1957) (uncredited)
294. "Tales of Wells Fargo" (1957) TV Series
295. "Playhouse 90" (1956) TV Series
296. "General Electric Theater" (1953) TV Series
... aka G.E. Theater (USA: informal short title)
... aka G.E. Theatre (USA)
297. "Today" (1952) TV Series (1985-????)
... aka NBC News Today (USA: promotional title)
... aka The Today Show (USA)
Miscellaneous Crew - filmography
1. Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) (conductor)
2. War of the Worlds (2005) (conductor)
3. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) (conductor)
4. The Terminal (2004) (conductor)
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) (conductor)
... aka Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version)
6. The Revamping of Dracula (2004) (V) (conductor)
7. Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy (2003) (V) (special thanks)
8. Catch Me If You Can (2002) (conductor)
9. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) (conductor)
... aka Attack of the Clones: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version (promotional title))
... aka Star Wars II (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (USA: video box title)
10. The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002) (TV) (orchestrator)
11. Live at the Shrine! John Williams and the World Premiere of 'E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial': The 20th Anniversary (2002) (V) (conductor)
12. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) (conductor) (uncredited)
... aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Canada: English title) (International: English title) (UK)
... aka Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (USA)
13. Fiddler on the Roof: 30 Years of Tradition (2001) (TV) (thanks)
14. The Making of 'Midway' (2001) (V) (special thanks)
15. Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999/I) (conductor: "This Land Is Your Land")
... aka Gnadenlos schön (Germany)
16. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) (conductor) (music producer)
... aka Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (USA: video box title)
... aka The Phantom Menace (USA: short title)
17. Saving Private Ryan (1998) (conductor) (uncredited) (music producer) (uncredited)
18. Seven Years in Tibet (1997) (conductor) (uncredited) (music producer) (uncredited)
19. Rosewood (1997) (music producer: "The Town Burns")
20. The Olympic Torch Relay (1996) (TV) (conductor)
21. Sabrina (1995) (conductor)
... aka Sabrina (Germany)
22. Schindler's List (1993) (conductor) (music producer)
23. Home Alone (1990) (music producer: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas")
24. The Witches of Eastwick (1987) (conductor)
25. Letter to Brezhnev (1985) (gofer)
26. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) (conductor) (music arranger: songs) (music producer) (uncredited)
... aka Return of the Jedi (USA: short title)
... aka Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (USA: video box title)
27. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (conductor) (music producer) (uncredited)
... aka Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (USA: video box title)
... aka The Empire Strikes Back (USA: short title)
28. Star Wars (1977) (additional orchestrator) (uncredited) (conductor) (uncredited)
... aka Guerra de las estrellas, La (USA: Spanish title)
... aka Star Wars IV: A New Hope (USA: video box title)
... aka Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (USA: reissue title (new title))
29. Midway (1976) (conductor)
... aka Battle of Midway (UK)
... aka The Battle of Midway (USA: video title)
30. The 48th Annual Academy Awards (1976) (TV) (musical director)
31. Jaws (1975) (conductor) (uncredited)
32. Tom Sawyer (1973/I) (conductor) (music supervisor)
... aka A Musical Adaptation of Mark Twain's 'Tom Sawyer' (USA: promotional title)
33. The Long Goodbye (1973) (lyricist)
34. Images (1972/I) (orchestrator) (uncredited)
35. Fiddler on the Roof (1971) (conductor) (music adaptor) (orchestrator)
36. Storia di una donna (1970) (lyricist: "Uno Di Qua L'Altra Di La")
... aka Story of a Woman (USA)
37. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) (conductor) (music supervisor)
38. Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969) (conductor)
39. Valley of the Dolls (1967) (musical director)
40. The Great Race (1965) (musician: piano) (uncredited)
... aka Blake Edwards' The Great Race (USA: complete title)
41. Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962) (musician: piano) (as Johnny Williams)
... aka Adventures of a Young Man (UK)
... aka Ernest Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (USA: complete title)
42. Studs Lonigan (1960) (musician) (uncredited)
43. "Johnny Staccato" (1959) TV Series (musician) (uncredited)
... aka Staccato (USA: short title)
44. Gidget (1959) (orchestrator) (as John Williams Jr.)
45. City of Fear (1959) (musician) (uncredited)
46. "Peter Gunn" (1958) TV Series (musician: piano)
47. South Pacific (1958) (musician: piano) (uncredited)
Actor - filmography
1. The Contest Kid and the Big Prize (1978) (TV)
2. "A Taste for Blue Ribbons" (1973) TV Series
3. "Johnny Staccato"
... aka Staccato (USA: short title)
- The Shop of the Four Winds (1959) TV Episode (as Johnny Williams) .... Piano Player
- The Naked Truth (1959) TV Episode (as Johnny Williams) .... Piano Player
Himself - filmography
1. "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"
- Episode dated 6 February 2006 (2006) TV Episode .... Himself
2. The Shark Is Still Working (2006) (V) .... Himself
3. Scoring 'War of the Worlds' (2005) (V) .... Himself
4. Within a Minute: The Making of 'Episode III' (2005) (V) .... Himself
5. AFI Tribute to George Lucas (2005) (TV) .... Himself
6. "Today"
... aka NBC News Today (USA: promotional title)
... aka The Today Show (USA)
- Episode dated 5 May 2005 (2005) TV Episode .... Himself
7. The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (2004) (TV) .... Himself - Honoree
8. Landing: Airport Stories (2004) (V) .... Himself
9. In Flight Service: The Music of 'The Terminal' (2004) (V) .... Himself
10. Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004) (TV) .... Himself
11. 'Saving Private Ryan': Music and Sound (2004) (V) .... Himself
12. Inside 'The Terminal' (2004) (TV) .... Himself
13. The Revamping of Dracula (2004) (V) .... Himself
14. A Capitol Fourth (2003) (TV) .... Himself
15. The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself - recalling his awards (pre-recorded)
16. The World of 'Minority Report': An Introduction (2002) (V) .... Himself
17. Deconstructing the Spider Sequence (2002) (V) .... Himself
18. Josh Groban In Concert (2002) (TV) .... Conductor
19. "The E! True Hollywood Story"
- Jaws (2002) TV Episode .... Himself
20. The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002) (TV) .... Himself - Conductor
21. XIX Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony (2002) (TV) .... Performer
22. The Music of 'AI' (2002) (V) .... Himself
23. Live at the Shrine! John Williams and the World Premiere of 'E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial': The 20th Anniversary (2002) (V)
24. Fiddler on the Roof: 30 Years of Tradition (2001) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
25. AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills: America's Most Heart-Pounding Movies (2001) (TV) .... Himself
26. The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (2001) (V) .... Himself
27. John Williams: The Music of 'Jaws 2' (2001) (V) .... Himself
28. Taking Flight: The Development of 'Superman' (2001) (V) .... Himself
29. Plotting 'Family Plot' (2001) (V) .... Himself
30. Making 'Superman': Filming the Legend (2001) (V) .... Himself
31. The Beginning: Making 'Episode I' (2001) (V) .... Himself
... aka The Beginning: Making Star Wars Episode I (USA)
32. The Stars of 'Star Wars': Interviews from the Cast (1999) (V) .... Himself
33. The Making of 'Lost World' (1997) (V) .... Himself
34. The Making of '1941' (1996) (V) .... Himself
35. The Making of 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' (1996) (V) .... Himself
... aka E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial - A Look Back (USA: cut version)
36. The Making of Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' (1995) (V) .... Himself
37. John Williams Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1993) (TV) .... Himself
38. The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball (1989) (TV) .... Himself
39. From 'Star Wars' to 'Jedi': The Making of a Saga (1985) (V) .... Himself
40. The 55th Annual Academy Awards (1983) (TV) .... Himself - Best Original Score Winner
41. Pavarotti & Friends (1982) (TV)
42. SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (TV) .... Himself
43. "Evening at Pops" (1970) TV Series .... Conductor (1979-1995)
44. "Previn and the Pittsburgh"
- The Music That Made the Movies (1978) TV Episode
45. The 20th Annual Grammy Awards (1978) (TV) .... Himself
Archive Footage
1. The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005) (TV) .... Himself
2. The 69th Annual Academy Awards (1997) (TV) .... Himself
511
INFORMATION FROM IMDb
Date of birth (location)
8 February 1932
Floral Park, Long Island, New York, USA
Sometimes Credited As:
John Williams Jr. / John T. Williams / Johnny T. Williams / Johnny Williams
Birth name
John Towner Williams
Spouse
Samantha Winslow (9 June 1980 - present)
Barbara Ruick (1956 - 3 March 1974) (her death) 3 children
Trade mark
Thundering theme pieces for major science fiction and fantasy films.
Extensive use of leitmotifs in scores.
Trivia
Conductor of the Boston Pops for 12 years.
Composed for all but two of Steven Spielberg's feature films.
Composed his first symphony at the urging of fellow film composer Bernard Herrmann.
Performed the famous piano riff on the original recording of Henry Mancini's theme to "Peter Gunn" (1958).
Father of composer Joseph Williams. The two worked together on Return of the Jedi, collaborating on the song performed by the alien band in Jabba's Palace. However, the song was replaced for the Special Edition.
Worked extensively with the London Symphony Orchestra
Son of jazz musician Johnny Williams, who was best known as the drummer in The Raymond Scott Quintette.
His son, Joseph Williams, became a member of the band Toto in 1986.
2002 distinguished him as the most Oscar-nominated living individual, with an astounding 41 nominations. In 2003 his total increased to 42, after receiving a nomination for Catch Me If You Can (2002). In 2004, he received his 43rd nomination, for "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".
In 2006, he tied Alfred Newman for the most number of Oscar nominations (45) received by a composer-conductor, when he was nominated for "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Munich".
Son-in-law of actors Mel Ruick and Lurene Tuttle
Is a recipient of the prestigious Connor Award given by the Phi Alpha Tau brotherhood of Emerson College located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Composer of the biggest-selling instrumental single of all-time, and the only one to be officially awarded Platinum status - 2 million units by the RIAA, Meco's recording of "Star Wars Theme and Cantina Band". And, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, Meco's "Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk" album also outsold Williams' soundtrack by 300,000 units.
Grand marshal, Tournament of Roses parade [2004]
Recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004, along with Elton John, Joan Sutherland, Warren Beatty, and Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.
Attended UCLA, Los Angeles City College & Juilliard
Composed the score to Alfred Hitchcock's final film.
Honorary Member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honrary Band Fraternity. Member of Boston University Chapter Theta Beta, Brother # 93, Nickname: "Pops"
Personal quotes
"His chameleon adaptability was a prerequisite to longevity and success in Hollywood. We used to call him Gorgeous. He was the golden boy, a beautiful presence. His music had a freshness, and he had a freshness." - about his friend Jerry Goldsmith.
Salary
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) $100,000
Mini biography
As one of the best known, awarded, and financially successful composers in US history, John Williams is as easy to recall as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein, illustrating why he is "America's composer" time again. With a massive list of awards that includes over 41 Oscar nominations (five wins), twenty-odd Gold and Platinum Records, and a slew of Emmy (two wins), Golden Globe (three wins), Grammy (18 wins), National Board of Review (including a Career Achievement Award), Saturn (six wins), and BAFTA (seven wins) citations, along with honorary doctorate degrees numbering in the teens, Williams is undoubtedly one of the most respected composers for Cinema. He's led countless national and international orchestras, most notably as the nineteenth conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980-1993, helming three Pops tours of the US and Japan during his tenure. He currently serves as the Pop's Conductor Laureate. Also to his credit is a parallel career as an author of serious, and some not-so-serious, concert works - performed by the likes of Mstislav Rostropovich, André Previn, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Leonard Slatkin, James Ingram, Dale Clevenger, and Joshua Bell. Of particular interests are his Essay for Strings, a jazzy Prelude & Fugue, the multimedia presentation American Journey (aka The Unfinished Journey (1999)), a Sinfonietta for Winds, a song cycle featuring poems by Rita Dove, concerti for flute, violin, clarinet, trumpet, tuba, cello, bassoon and horn, fanfares for the 1984, 1988 and 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and a song co-written with Alan & Marilyn Bergman for the Special Olympics! But such a list probably warrants a more detailed background...
Born in Long Island, New York on February 8, 1932, John Towner Williams discovered music almost immediately, due in no small measure to being the son of a percussionist for CBS Radio and the Raymond Scott Quintet. After moving to Los Angeles in 1948, the young pianist and leader of his own jazz band started experimenting with arranging tunes; at age 15, he determined he was going to become a concert pianist; at 19, he premiered his first original composition, a piano sonata.
He attended both UCLA and the Los Angeles City College, studying orchestration under MGM musical associate Robert van Eps and being privately tutored by composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, until conducting for the first time during three years with the U.S. Air Force. His return to the states brought him to Julliard, where renowned piano pedagogue Madame Rosina Lhevinne helped Williams hone his performance skills. He played in jazz clubs to pay his way; still, she encouraged him to focus on composing. So it was back to L.A., with the future maestro ready to break into the Hollywood scene.
Williams found work with the Hollywood studios as a piano player, eventually accompanying such fare such as the TV series "Peter Gunn" (1958), South Pacific (1958), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), as well as forming a surprising friendship with Bernard Herrmann. At age 24, 'Johnny Williams' became a staff arranger at Columbia and then at 20th Century-Fox, orchestrating for Alfred Newman and Lionel Newman, Dimitri Tiomkin, Franz Waxman, and other Golden Age notables. In the field of popular music, he performed and arranged for the likes of Vic Damone, Doris Day, and Mahalia Jackson... all while courting actress/singer Barbara Ruick, who became his wife until her death in 1974. John & Barbara had three children; their daughter is now a doctor, and their two sons, Joseph and Mark, are rock musicians.
The orchestrating gigs led to serious composing jobs for television, notably "Alcoa Premiere" (1961), "Checkmate" (1960), "Gilligan's Island" (1964), "Lost in Space" (1965), "Land of the Giants" (1968), and his Emmy-winning scores for Heidi (1968) (TV) and _Jane Eyre (1970)_ . _Daddy-O (1959)_ and Because They're Young (1960) brought his original music to the big theatres, but he was soon typecast doing comedies. His efforts in the genre helped guarantee his work on William Wyler's How to Steal a Million (1966), however, a major picture that immediately led to larger projects. Of course, his arrangements continued to garner attention, and he won his first Oscar for adapting Fiddler on the Roof (1971).
During the '70s, he was King of Disaster Scores with The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Earthquake (1974) and The Towering Inferno (1974). His psychological score for Images (1972/I) remains one of the most innovative works in soundtrack history. But his Americana - particularly The Reivers (1969) - is what caught the ear of director Steven Spielberg, then preparing for his first feature, The Sugarland Express (1974). When Spielberg reunited with Williams on Jaws (1975), they established themselves as a blockbuster team, the composer gained his first Academy Award for Original Score, and Spielberg promptly recommended Williams to a friend, George Lucas. In 1977, John Williams re-popularized the epic cinema sound of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman, and other composers from the Hollywood Golden Age: Star Wars (1977) became the best selling score-only soundtrack of all time, and spawned countless musical imitators. For the next five years, though the music in Hollywood changed, John Williams wrote big, brassy scores for big, brassy films - The Fury (1978), Superman (1978), 1941 (1979), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) ... An experiment during this period, Heartbeeps (1981), flopped. There was a long-term change of pace, nonetheless, as Williams fell in love with an interior designer and married once more.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) brought about his third Oscar, and The River (1984), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Accidental Tourist (1988), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) added variety to the 1980s, as he returned to television with work on Amazing Stories and themes for NBC, including NBC Nightly News. The '80s also brought the only exceptions to the composer's collaboration with Steven Spielberg - others scored both Spielberg's segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) and The Color Purple (1985).
Intending to retire, the composer's output became sporadic during the 1990s, particularly after the exciting Jurassic Park (1993) and the masterful, Oscar-winning Schindler's List (1993). This lighter workload, coupled with a number of hilarious references on "The Simpsons" (1989) actually seemed to renew interest in his music. Two Home Alone films (1990, 1992), JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), Sleepers (1996), Seven Years in Tibet (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Angela's Ashes (1999), and a return to familiar territory with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) recalled his creative diversity of the '70s.
In this millennium, the artist shows no interest in slowing down. His relationships with Spielberg and Lucas continue in Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001), the remaining Star Wars prequels (2002, 2005), Minority Report (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), and a promised fourth Indiana Jones film. There is a more focused effort on concert works, as well, including a theme for the new Walt Disney Concert Hall and a rumored light opera. But one certain highlight is his musical magic for the world of Harry Potter (2001, 2002, 2004, etc.), which he also arranged into a concert suite geared toward teaching children about the symphony orchestra. His music remains on the whistling lips of people around the globe, in the concert halls, on the promenades, in album collections, sports arenas, and parades, and, this writer hopes, touching some place in ourselves. So keep those ears ready wherever you go, 'cause you will likely hear a bit of John Williams on your way.
IMDb mini-biography by
Jeffrey Wheeler
Biography
from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
It's impossible to think of Star Wars-or many other megahit movies-without calling to mind the stirring musical score crafted by this talented, prolific, award-winning composer. A Juilliard-trained musician who recorded several albums as a jazz pianist in the late 1950s, arranged albums for various pop stars, and worked as a studio musician (he's the one playing the piano vamp for Henry Mancini's memorable "Peter Gunn" theme), he took up scoring films and TV shows shortly thereafter. As "Johnny" Williams, he composed the memorable theme songs and musical backgrounds for "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" and "Lost in Space," among other 1960s TV shows. While his early scores-for Because They're Young (1960), Bachelor Flat (1962), Gidget Goes to Rome (1963), and John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965), among others-weren't particularly noteworthy, Williams came into his own with The Killers (1964), None But the Brave (1965), and especially Valley of the Dolls (1967), for which he earned the first of many Academy Award nominations. He won an Oscar for adapting Fiddler on the Roof (1971), while Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Reivers (both 1969), Images, The Poseidon Adventure (both 1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), and The Towering Inferno (1974) all got Academy Award nods, but it was his throbbing, much-imitated score for Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) that won Williams his second Oscar and began a long and fruitful association with Spielberg which continues today.
His scores for Star Wars (and its sequels), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Superman (1978), and E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) were inexorably linked with those films' success, and their very identities (Star Wars and E. T won Oscars). Many of his soundtrack albums became best-sellers, and Williams' name became arguably the best known in movie music history. What's more, he al most singlehandedly returned the "big" orchestral film score to favor in the late 1970s. From 1980 to 1993 he conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra, and frequently integrated his film music into the orchestra's concerts.
Copyright © 1994 Leonard Maltin, used by arrangement with Signet, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.
Composer - filmography
1. Battle Angel (2009) (pre-production) (unconfirmed)
2. Jurassic Park IV (2008) (pre-production) (themes)
3. Indiana Jones 4 (2007) (pre-production)
4. Untitled Steven Spielberg/Abraham Lincoln Project (2007) (pre-production)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) (filming) (themes)
6. Superman Returns (2006) (post-production) (main theme)
7. Munich (2005)
8. Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
9. The H.G. Wells Legacy (2005) (V)
10. Steven Spielberg and the Original 'War of the Worlds' (2005) (V)
11. Scoring 'War of the Worlds' (2005) (V)
12. Designing the Enemy: Tripods and Aliens (2005) (V)
13. We Are Not Alone (2005) (V)
14. 'War of the Worlds': Revisiting the Invasion (2005) (V)
15. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, West Coast - War (2005) (V)
16. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, West Coast - Destruction (2005) (V)
17. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, East Coast - Exile (2005) (V)
18. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, East Coast - Beginning (2005) (V)
19. 'War of the Worlds': Previsualization (2005) (V)
20. 'War of the Worlds': Characters - The Family Unit (2005) (V)
21. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) (themes)
22. War of the Worlds (2005)
23. "Science of Star Wars" (2005) (mini) TV Series
24. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
25. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005/II) (VG)
26. 'Star Wars': A Musical Journey (2005) (V)
27. Star Wars: Revelations (2005) (V) (from "Star Wars)
28. The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005) (TV) (from "ET") (uncredited)
29. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords (2004) (VG) (from "Star Wars")
... aka Star Wars: KOTOR II (USA: short title)
30. Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004) (TV)
31. "Jack & Bobby" (2004) TV Series (main title theme from film "The Patriot")
32. "Motormagasinet" (2004) TV Series (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Star Wars") (segment "Tannhäuser") (archive footage)
33. World's Finest (2004) (theme from "Superman")
34. The Terminal (2004)
35. "HBO First Look"
- The Terminal (2004) TV Episode
36. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
... aka Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version)
37. 'Saving Private Ryan': Miller and His Platoon (2004) (V)
38. 'Saving Private Ryan': An Introduction (2004) (V)
39. 'Saving Private Ryan': Parting Thoughts (2004) (V)
40. 'Saving Private Ryan': Music and Sound (2004) (V)
41. 'Saving Private Ryan': Re-Creating Omaha Beach (2004) (V)
42. 'Saving Private Ryan': Boot Camp (2004) (V)
43. 'Saving Private Ryan': Looking Into the Past (2004) (V)
44. Making 'Saving Private Ryan' (2004) (V)
45. "Ich bin ein Star, holt mich hier raus!" (2004) TV Series (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark")
46. "Athens 2004: Games of the XXVIII Olympiad" (2004) (mini) TV Series (song "Summon the Heroes")
47. Once Upon a Jedi (2004)
48. The Revamping of Dracula (2004) (V)
49. "Star Wars: Clone Wars" (2003) TV Series
50. Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy (2003) (V)
51. Herr Lehmann (2003) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
... aka Berlin Blues (Europe: English title)
52. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003) (VG) (from "Star Wars")
... aka Star Wars: KOTOR (USA: short title)
53. Catch Me If You Can: Frank Abagnale, Jr., Between Reality and Fiction (2003) (V)
54. 'Catch Me If You Can': Behind the Camera (2003) (V) (from 'Catch Me If You Can')
55. Scoring 'Catch Me If You Can' (2003) (V)
56. "Smallville"
... aka Smallville Beginnings (USA: rerun title)
... aka Smallville: Superman the Early Years (UK: promotional title)
- Rosetta (2003) TV Episode (from "Superman (1978)")
57. Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (2003) (VG) (theme)
58. Declaration of Independence (2003) (V)
59. 'Minority Report': The Players (2002) (V)
60. The World of 'Minority Report': An Introduction (2002) (V)
61. Deconstructing Precog Visions (2002) (V)
62. Deconstructing Precrime and Precogs (2002) (V)
63. Deconstructing Vehicles of the Future (2002) (V)
64. Deconstructing the Spider Sequence (2002) (V)
65. Final Report (2002) (V)
66. ILM and 'Minority Report' (2002) (V)
67. 'Minority Report': The Story, the Debate (2002) (V)
68. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
69. Josh Groban In Concert (2002) (TV) (song "For Always" from film "A.I")
70. J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and Me (2002) (TV) (from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") (uncredited)
71. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
72. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2002) (VG)
73. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: 20th Anniversary Celebration (2002) (V)
74. Star Wars: Star Wars Galaxies - An Empire Divided (2002) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
75. Minority Report (2002)
76. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
... aka Attack of the Clones: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version (promotional title))
... aka Star Wars II (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (USA: video box title)
77. Broken Allegiance (2002) ("Star Wars" theme)
... aka Star Wars: The Broken Allegiance (Australia)
78. Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast (2002) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
79. The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002) (TV) (from "Artificial Intelligence: AI") (from "ET") (uncredited)
80. Reflections of Evil (2002)
81. Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter (2002) (VG)
82. Special Visual Effects and Animation: ILM (2002) (V)
83. Lighting AI (2002) (V)
84. Creating AI (2002) (V)
85. AI: A Portrait of David (2002) (V)
86. The E.T. Reunion (2002) (V)
87. Dressing 'AI' (2002) (V)
88. The Dinosaurs of 'Jurassic Park III' (2001) (V) (from "Jurassic Park")
... aka The New Dinosaurs of 'Jurassic Park III' (USA: DVD box title)
89. The Making of 'Jurassic Park III' (2001) (V) (from "Jurassic Park")
90. The Jurassic Park Phenomenon: A Discussion with Author Michael Crichton (2001) (V)
91. R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2001) (TV)
92. Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2 (2001) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
... aka Rogue Leader (USA: short title)
... aka Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II (USA: short title)
93. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
... aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Canada: English title) (International: English title) (UK)
... aka Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (USA)
94. The Making of 'Midway' (2001) (V)
95. Don't Say a Word (2001) (from the movie "Home Alone")
96. Jurassic Park III (2001) (themes)
... aka JP3 (USA: promotional abbreviation)
97. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
... aka A.I. Artificial Intelligence (USA: poster title)
98. The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (2001) (V)
99. The Making of 'Jaws 2' (2001) (V)
100. John Williams: The Music of 'Jaws 2' (2001) (V)
101. Jaws 2: A Portrait by Actor Keith Gordon (2001) (V)
102. Pearl Harbor (2001) (uncredited) (music from Midway, 1976)
... aka Pearl Harbour (UK: promotional title)
103. "Yago, pasión morena" (2001) TV Series (from "Presumed Innocent") (uncredited)
... aka Yago, Pure Passion (International: English title)
104. Plotting 'Family Plot' (2001) (V)
105. Our Favorite Things: Christmas in Vienna (2000) (TV) (song "Somewhore in my Memory" from "Home Alone")
106. Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) (from "Star Wars")
... aka The Klumps (Australia)
107. The Patriot (2000)
... aka Patriot, Der (Germany)
108. "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000) TV Series (from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark (1984)')
109. The Unfinished Journey (1999)
110. Angela's Ashes (1999)
111. "Spaced" (1999) TV Series (from "Star Wars")
112. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
... aka Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (USA: video box title)
... aka The Phantom Menace (USA: short title)
113. Return of the Ewok (1999) (V)
114. Trail of Terror (1999) (V) (from "Jaws (1975)") (uncredited)
115. Stepmom (1998)
116. Lost in Space Forever (1998) (TV) (stock music)
117. The Rugrats Movie (1998) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)")
118. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
119. Half Baked (1998) (Jaws theme)
120. Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Mysteries of the Sith (1998) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
121. "Århundredets vidner" (1998) TV Series (episode "I Førerens navn" 1999)
122. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (1998) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
123. Amistad (1997)
124. Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
125. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
126. Rosewood (1997) (also song "The Town Burns")
127. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997/II) (VG)
128. Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II (1997) (VG) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
... aka Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (USA: short title)
129. The Making of 'Lost World' (1997) (V)
130. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (1996) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
131. Sleepers (1996)
132. The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) (theme from "The Long Goodbye")
133. The Olympic Torch Relay (1996) (TV)
134. Nixon (1995)
135. Sabrina (1995)
... aka Sabrina (Germany)
136. The Making of Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' (1995) (V)
137. Now and Then (1995) (song "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me")
138. Baazi (1995) (from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)") (uncredited)
139. Star Wars: Dark Forces (1994) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
140. Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures (1994) (VG)
141. Schindler's List (1993)
142. Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1993) (VG) (from "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)")
143. "Celeste, siempre Celeste" (1993) TV Series (from "Presumed Innocent") (uncredited)
144. Jurassic Park (1993)
... aka JP (USA: promotional abbreviation)
145. Star Wars: Rebel Assault (1993) (VG) (from Star Wars films)
146. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
... aka Home Alone II (USA: short title)
147. Far and Away (1992)
148. Super Star Wars (1992) (VG) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
149. Indiana Jed (1992) (V) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)"...)
... aka Indiana Jed & the Search for the Infinite Power (USA: reissue title (shorter version))
150. Amazing Stories: Book One (1992) (V) (segment "The Mission")
151. The Making of Indiana Jed 'Behind the Scenes' (1992) (V) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)")
152. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (1992) (VG) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark")
... aka Indy 4 (USA: informal short title)
153. JFK (1991)
... aka JFK (France)
154. Hook (1991) (also songs "We Don't Wanna Grow Up", "When You're Alone" and "Pick'em Up")
155. There's Nothing Out There (1991) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)")
156. Home Alone (1990) (songs "Somewhere in My Memory" and "Star of Bethlehem")
157. Presumed Innocent (1990)
158. Stanley & Iris (1990)
159. Wow! (1990) (V) (from various films)
160. Always (1989)
161. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
162. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
163. The Accidental Tourist (1988)
164. "Superman" (1988) TV Series (theme)
165. Superman (1987) (from 'Superman (1978)') (uncredited)
... aka The Indian Superman (India: English title)
166. Empire of the Sun (1987)
167. Back to the Beach (1987) (from "Superman (1978)")
... aka Malibu Beach Girls (USA)
168. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
169. Jaws: The Revenge (1987) (from "Jaws (1975)")
170. The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
171. Star Tours (1987)
172. Indiana Jones in Revenge of the Ancients (1987) (VG) (theme)
173. Jaws (1987) (VG) (theme from "Jaws 2 (1978)")
174. "Sonny Soufflé chok show" (1986) TV Series (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Star Wars") (segment "Tannhäuser") (1986-1987)
175. SpaceCamp (1986)
176. "Amazing Stories" (1985) TV Series (episode "Ghost Train") (episode "The Mission") (theme)
... aka Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories (USA: complete title)
177. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1985) (VG) (theme)
178. From 'Star Wars' to 'Jedi': The Making of a Saga (1985) (V) (Star Wars themes)
179. The Empire Strikes Back (1985) (VG) (from "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)")
180. The River (1984)
181. Best Defense (1984) (song " Raiders March")
182. Top Secret! (1984) (songs)
183. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
184. "Los Angeles 1984: Games of the XXIII Olympiad" (1984) (mini) TV Series (song "Olympic Fanfare and Theme")
185. Star Wars: The Arcade Game (1984) (VG) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
186. The Big Chill (1983) (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)")
187. Jaws 3-D (1983) (from "Jaws (1975)")
... aka Jaws 3
... aka Jaws III
188. Superman III (1983) (from "Superman (1978)")
189. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
... aka Return of the Jedi (USA: short title)
... aka Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (USA: video box title)
190. The 55th Annual Academy Awards (1983) (TV) (song "If We Were In Love" from "Yes, Giorgio")
191. "Tak fordi vi kom" (1983) TV Series (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark")
... aka Robin Hat (Denmark: promotional title)
192. Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983) (TV)
193. Star Wars (1983) (VG) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
194. Star Wars: Jedi Arena (1983) (VG) (from "Star Wars (1977)")
195. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - Death Star Battle (1983) (VG) (from 'Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)')
... aka Star Wars: Death Star Battle (USA: short title)
196. Monsignor (1982)
197. Yes, Giorgio (1982)
198. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
... aka E.T. (USA: short title)
... aka E.T. the Extra- Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary (USA: longer version)
199. Aliens from Another Planet (1982) (TV) (theme) (as Johnny Williams)
200. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1982) (VG) (from "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)")
201. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1982) (VG) (uncredited)
202. Heartbeeps (1981)
203. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
... aka Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (USA: video title)
204. Superman II (1980) (from "Superman (1978)")
205. SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (TV) (musical themes)
206. Airplane! (1980) (from "Jaws (1975)")
... aka Flying High (Australia)
207. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
... aka Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (USA: video box title)
... aka The Empire Strikes Back (USA: short title)
208. 1941 (1979)
209. Dracula (1979)
210. Superman (1978) (also song "Can You Read My Mind?") (song title uncredited)
... aka Superman: The Movie
211. The 'Star Wars' Holiday Special (1978) (TV)
212. Jaws 2 (1978)
213. The End (1978) (from "Eiger Sanction, The (1975)")
214. The Fury (1978)
215. The Making of 'Superman: The Movie' (1978) (TV)
216. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
... aka CE3K (USA: informal short title)
... aka Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Special Edition (USA: reissue title)
217. The Making of 'Star Wars' (1977) (TV) (Star Wars themes)
218. Star Wars (1977)
... aka Guerra de las estrellas, La (USA: Spanish title)
... aka Star Wars IV: A New Hope (USA: video box title)
... aka Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (USA: reissue title (new title))
219. Black Sunday (1977)
220. Fei taugh mo neuih (1977) (from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)")
... aka Fei tou mo nu (China: Mandarin title)
... aka The Witch with Flying Head (Hong Kong: English title)
221. Midway (1976)
... aka Battle of Midway (UK)
... aka The Battle of Midway (USA: video title)
222. The Missouri Breaks (1976)
223. Family Plot (1976)
224. Jaws (1975)
225. The Eiger Sanction (1975)
226. The Towering Inferno (1974)
227. Earthquake (1974)
228. The 46th Annual Academy Awards (1974) (TV) (song "Nice To Be Around")
229. The Sugarland Express (1974)
230. Conrack (1974)
231. "The Cowboys" (1974) TV Series
232. The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)
233. The Paper Chase (1973)
234. The Long Goodbye (1973) (title song)
235. Cinderella Liberty (1973)
236. Pete 'n' Tillie (1972) (as John T. Williams)
237. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
238. Images (1972/I)
239. The Screaming Woman (1972) (TV)
240. The Cowboys (1972)
241. "Masterpiece Theatre" (1971) TV Series (American Collection theme)
... aka ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre (USA: new title)
... aka Mobil Masterpiece Theatre (USA)
242. Jane Eyre (1970) (TV)
243. Storia di una donna (1970)
... aka Story of a Woman (USA)
244. "NBC Nightly News" (1970) TV Series
245. The Reivers (1969)
... aka Yellow Winton Flyer
246. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) (background score)
247. Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969)
248. Saturday Adoption (1968) (TV)
... aka CBS Playhouse: Saturday Adoption (USA: series title)
249. Heidi (1968) (TV) (song "A Place of My Own")
... aka Heidi kehrt heim (West Germany)
250. "Land of the Giants" (1968) TV Series (also theme)
251. Sergeant Ryker (1968)
... aka The Case Against Paul Ryker
... aka The Case Against Sergeant Ryker
... aka Torn Between Two Values
252. Fitzwilly (1967) (as Johnny Williams) (also song "Make Me Rainbows")
... aka A Garden of Cucumbers
... aka Fitzwilly Strikes Back (UK)
253. Valley of the Dolls (1967)
254. Ghostbreakers (1967) (TV)
255. A Guide for the Married Man (1967) (as Johnny Williams)
256. Code Name: Heraclitus (1967) (TV) (theme song)
257. Penelope (1966) (as Johnny Williams)
258. Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966) (as Johnny Williams)
259. "The Time Tunnel" (1966) TV Series (also theme) (as Johnny Williams)
260. "The Tammy Grimes Show" (1966) TV Series
261. The Plainsman (1966) (as Johnny Williams)
262. How to Steal a Million (1966) (as Johnny Williams)
... aka How to Steal a Million Dollars and Live Happily Ever After
263. "The Kraft Summer Music Hall" (1966) TV Series
264. The Rare Breed (1966) (as Johnny Williams)
265. Penelope's Fashion Show (1966) (from "Penelope (1966)") (uncredited)
266. "Lost in Space" (1965) TV Series (as Johnny Williams) (also theme)
267. John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1965)
268. None But the Brave (1965) (as Johnny Williams)
... aka Yusha nomi (Japan)
269. The Katherine Reed Story (1965)
270. "Gilligan's Island" (1964) TV Series
271. The Killers (1964) (as Johnny Williams)
... aka Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (USA: promotional title)
272. Nightmare in Chicago (1964) (TV)
... aka Once Upon a Savage Night
273. Gilligan's Island: Marooned (1964) (TV) (as Johnny Williams)
274. "Kraft Suspense Theatre"
- The Case Against Paul Ryker: Part 2 (1963) TV Episode
- The Case Against Paul Ryker: Part 1 (1963) TV Episode
275. "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1963) TV Series
... aka The Chrysler Theater
... aka Universal Star Time (syndication title)
276. Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) (as Johnny Williams)
277. Diamond Head (1963)
278. Stark Fear (1962) (party music)
279. "Alcoa Premiere" (as Johnny T. Williams)
- Flashing Spikes (1962) TV Episode
280. "Empire" (1962) TV Series
... aka Big G (UK)
281. "The Wide Country" (1962) TV Series
282. "The Virginian" (1962) TV Series
... aka The Men from Shiloh (new title)
283. Bachelor Flat (1962)
284. "Kraft Mystery Theater" (1961) TV Series (as Johnny Williams)
285. The Secret Ways (1961) (as Johnny Williams)
286. "Checkmate" (1960) TV Series
287. Because They're Young (1960)
288. I Passed for White (1960)
289. Daddy-O (1958)
... aka Downbeat (UK)
... aka Out on Probation
290. "M Squad" (1957) TV Series (as Johnny Williams)
291. "Wagon Train" (1957) TV Series
... aka Major Adams, Trail Master
292. "Bachelor Father" (1957) TV Series
293. My Gun Is Quick (1957) (uncredited)
294. "Tales of Wells Fargo" (1957) TV Series
295. "Playhouse 90" (1956) TV Series
296. "General Electric Theater" (1953) TV Series
... aka G.E. Theater (USA: informal short title)
... aka G.E. Theatre (USA)
297. "Today" (1952) TV Series (1985-????)
... aka NBC News Today (USA: promotional title)
... aka The Today Show (USA)
Miscellaneous Crew - filmography
1. Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) (conductor)
2. War of the Worlds (2005) (conductor)
3. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) (conductor)
4. The Terminal (2004) (conductor)
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) (conductor)
... aka Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version)
6. The Revamping of Dracula (2004) (V) (conductor)
7. Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy (2003) (V) (special thanks)
8. Catch Me If You Can (2002) (conductor)
9. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) (conductor)
... aka Attack of the Clones: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version (promotional title))
... aka Star Wars II (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (USA: video box title)
10. The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002) (TV) (orchestrator)
11. Live at the Shrine! John Williams and the World Premiere of 'E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial': The 20th Anniversary (2002) (V) (conductor)
12. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) (conductor) (uncredited)
... aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Canada: English title) (International: English title) (UK)
... aka Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (USA)
13. Fiddler on the Roof: 30 Years of Tradition (2001) (TV) (thanks)
14. The Making of 'Midway' (2001) (V) (special thanks)
15. Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999/I) (conductor: "This Land Is Your Land")
... aka Gnadenlos schön (Germany)
16. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) (conductor) (music producer)
... aka Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (USA: video box title)
... aka The Phantom Menace (USA: short title)
17. Saving Private Ryan (1998) (conductor) (uncredited) (music producer) (uncredited)
18. Seven Years in Tibet (1997) (conductor) (uncredited) (music producer) (uncredited)
19. Rosewood (1997) (music producer: "The Town Burns")
20. The Olympic Torch Relay (1996) (TV) (conductor)
21. Sabrina (1995) (conductor)
... aka Sabrina (Germany)
22. Schindler's List (1993) (conductor) (music producer)
23. Home Alone (1990) (music producer: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas")
24. The Witches of Eastwick (1987) (conductor)
25. Letter to Brezhnev (1985) (gofer)
26. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) (conductor) (music arranger: songs) (music producer) (uncredited)
... aka Return of the Jedi (USA: short title)
... aka Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (USA: video box title)
27. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (conductor) (music producer) (uncredited)
... aka Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (USA: video box title)
... aka The Empire Strikes Back (USA: short title)
28. Star Wars (1977) (additional orchestrator) (uncredited) (conductor) (uncredited)
... aka Guerra de las estrellas, La (USA: Spanish title)
... aka Star Wars IV: A New Hope (USA: video box title)
... aka Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (USA: reissue title (new title))
29. Midway (1976) (conductor)
... aka Battle of Midway (UK)
... aka The Battle of Midway (USA: video title)
30. The 48th Annual Academy Awards (1976) (TV) (musical director)
31. Jaws (1975) (conductor) (uncredited)
32. Tom Sawyer (1973/I) (conductor) (music supervisor)
... aka A Musical Adaptation of Mark Twain's 'Tom Sawyer' (USA: promotional title)
33. The Long Goodbye (1973) (lyricist)
34. Images (1972/I) (orchestrator) (uncredited)
35. Fiddler on the Roof (1971) (conductor) (music adaptor) (orchestrator)
36. Storia di una donna (1970) (lyricist: "Uno Di Qua L'Altra Di La")
... aka Story of a Woman (USA)
37. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) (conductor) (music supervisor)
38. Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969) (conductor)
39. Valley of the Dolls (1967) (musical director)
40. The Great Race (1965) (musician: piano) (uncredited)
... aka Blake Edwards' The Great Race (USA: complete title)
41. Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962) (musician: piano) (as Johnny Williams)
... aka Adventures of a Young Man (UK)
... aka Ernest Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (USA: complete title)
42. Studs Lonigan (1960) (musician) (uncredited)
43. "Johnny Staccato" (1959) TV Series (musician) (uncredited)
... aka Staccato (USA: short title)
44. Gidget (1959) (orchestrator) (as John Williams Jr.)
45. City of Fear (1959) (musician) (uncredited)
46. "Peter Gunn" (1958) TV Series (musician: piano)
47. South Pacific (1958) (musician: piano) (uncredited)
Actor - filmography
1. The Contest Kid and the Big Prize (1978) (TV)
2. "A Taste for Blue Ribbons" (1973) TV Series
3. "Johnny Staccato"
... aka Staccato (USA: short title)
- The Shop of the Four Winds (1959) TV Episode (as Johnny Williams) .... Piano Player
- The Naked Truth (1959) TV Episode (as Johnny Williams) .... Piano Player
Himself - filmography
1. "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"
- Episode dated 6 February 2006 (2006) TV Episode .... Himself
2. The Shark Is Still Working (2006) (V) .... Himself
3. Scoring 'War of the Worlds' (2005) (V) .... Himself
4. Within a Minute: The Making of 'Episode III' (2005) (V) .... Himself
5. AFI Tribute to George Lucas (2005) (TV) .... Himself
6. "Today"
... aka NBC News Today (USA: promotional title)
... aka The Today Show (USA)
- Episode dated 5 May 2005 (2005) TV Episode .... Himself
7. The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (2004) (TV) .... Himself - Honoree
8. Landing: Airport Stories (2004) (V) .... Himself
9. In Flight Service: The Music of 'The Terminal' (2004) (V) .... Himself
10. Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004) (TV) .... Himself
11. 'Saving Private Ryan': Music and Sound (2004) (V) .... Himself
12. Inside 'The Terminal' (2004) (TV) .... Himself
13. The Revamping of Dracula (2004) (V) .... Himself
14. A Capitol Fourth (2003) (TV) .... Himself
15. The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself - recalling his awards (pre-recorded)
16. The World of 'Minority Report': An Introduction (2002) (V) .... Himself
17. Deconstructing the Spider Sequence (2002) (V) .... Himself
18. Josh Groban In Concert (2002) (TV) .... Conductor
19. "The E! True Hollywood Story"
- Jaws (2002) TV Episode .... Himself
20. The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002) (TV) .... Himself - Conductor
21. XIX Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony (2002) (TV) .... Performer
22. The Music of 'AI' (2002) (V) .... Himself
23. Live at the Shrine! John Williams and the World Premiere of 'E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial': The 20th Anniversary (2002) (V)
24. Fiddler on the Roof: 30 Years of Tradition (2001) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
25. AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills: America's Most Heart-Pounding Movies (2001) (TV) .... Himself
26. The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (2001) (V) .... Himself
27. John Williams: The Music of 'Jaws 2' (2001) (V) .... Himself
28. Taking Flight: The Development of 'Superman' (2001) (V) .... Himself
29. Plotting 'Family Plot' (2001) (V) .... Himself
30. Making 'Superman': Filming the Legend (2001) (V) .... Himself
31. The Beginning: Making 'Episode I' (2001) (V) .... Himself
... aka The Beginning: Making Star Wars Episode I (USA)
32. The Stars of 'Star Wars': Interviews from the Cast (1999) (V) .... Himself
33. The Making of 'Lost World' (1997) (V) .... Himself
34. The Making of '1941' (1996) (V) .... Himself
35. The Making of 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' (1996) (V) .... Himself
... aka E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial - A Look Back (USA: cut version)
36. The Making of Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' (1995) (V) .... Himself
37. John Williams Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1993) (TV) .... Himself
38. The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball (1989) (TV) .... Himself
39. From 'Star Wars' to 'Jedi': The Making of a Saga (1985) (V) .... Himself
40. The 55th Annual Academy Awards (1983) (TV) .... Himself - Best Original Score Winner
41. Pavarotti & Friends (1982) (TV)
42. SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (TV) .... Himself
43. "Evening at Pops" (1970) TV Series .... Conductor (1979-1995)
44. "Previn and the Pittsburgh"
- The Music That Made the Movies (1978) TV Episode
45. The 20th Annual Grammy Awards (1978) (TV) .... Himself
Archive Footage
1. The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005) (TV) .... Himself
2. The 69th Annual Academy Awards (1997) (TV) .... Himself