History Music / JohnWilliams

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Starting in 1977 he scored the all of the Original Trilogy and the Prequel Trilogy, with well-known pieces like "Main Title" (the opening {{fanfare}}), "[[BootstrappedTheme Luke's Theme]]", "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" and "Duel of The Fates". He won an Academy Award for ''Film/ANewHope''. He returned to score ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', ''Film/TheLastJedi'', and ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''. The latter has been confirmed to be [[Main/GrandFinale his very last for the franchise]]. He also scored some tracks of ''Film/{{Solo}}'' alongside John Powell.

** The soundtrack of "StarWars" strongly references [[Music/GustavHolst Gustav Holst's]] ''[[StealthPun The Planets]]''. Does [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0bcRCCg01I this]] remind you of anything?

** ''Star Wars'' fans probably believe that honour goes to track 15 of the soundtrack for''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', which is entitled [[spoiler: "Qui-Gon's Noble End"]]. Followed by the track [[spoiler: "The High Council Meeting and Qui-Gon's Funeral"]], in case that wasn't clear enough. For reference, the soundtrack album was released several weeks before the film came out in theaters.

** Arguably his greatest crime in this regard is ''Film/PresumedInnocent''. Seriously, if you don't have this soundtrack album '''do not''' get it before seeing the movie, as the penultimate track is called [[spoiler: "Barbara's Confession."]]
** ''Star Wars'' fans probably believe that honour goes to track 15 of the soundtrack for''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', which is entitled [[spoiler: "Qui-Gon's Noble End"]]. For reference, the soundtrack album was released several weeks before the film came out in theaters.

Unless you're hearing impaired and haven't seen a movie in the last 30 years (or even if you haven't), you'll have certainly heard one of Williams' tunes. Most of his themes have become iconic in their own right, such as the opening {{fanfare}} of ''Franchise/StarWars'', the famous string sting from ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' or the theme for ''Franchise/IndianaJones''. Williams has long been the go-to composer for Creator/StevenSpielberg's films (he even wrote the music for the Amblin and Creator/{{Dreamworks}} logos). Likewise, his music for ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' gave the {{Superhero}} film genre a rarely equaled feel of heroic majesty.

If you are not hearing impaired and have seen a movie in the last 30 years (or even if you haven't), you'll have certainly heard one of Williams' tunes. Most of his themes have become iconic in their own right, such as the opening {{fanfare}} of ''Franchise/StarWars'', the famous string sting from ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' or the theme for ''Franchise/IndianaJones''. Williams has long been the go-to composer for Creator/StevenSpielberg's films (he even wrote the music for the Amblin and Creator/{{Dreamworks}} logos). Likewise, his music for ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' gave the {{Superhero}} film genre a rarely equaled feel of heroic majesty.

Not to be confused with John William'''''son''''' who is very very [[AwesomeAussie Australian]] singer/songwriter. Nor with the acclaimed classical ''guitarist'' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams_(guitarist) John Williams]]. Nor with any of the dozens of other [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams_(disambiguation) eminent historical John Williamses]]. He is however related to Joseph Williams, the singer from Music/{{Toto}} and Simba's singing voice in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994''-- that would be his son.

Born in New York to a musical family (his father was a jazz drummer), he got his start as a studio pianist in Los Angeles, performing on film scores by composers such as Music/JerryGoldsmith (''Studs Lonigan''; ''City of Fear''), Music/ElmerBernstein (''Film/SweetSmellOfSuccess''; ''God's Little Acre''; ''Staccato''; ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]''; ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''), Music/HenryMancini (he actually played the well-recognized opening riff to the ''Series/PeterGunn'' theme; ''Series/MrLucky''; ''Film/DaysOfWineAndRoses''; ''Film/{{Charade}}''), Music/AlfredNewman (''Theatre/SouthPacific''), and Jerome Moross (''Film/TheBigCountry'').

* OutgrowingTheChildishName: In his early career as a jazz pianist, he was credited as "Little Johnny Love" Williams. In his early work as a TV composer, this was reduced to "Johnny Williams," and he dropped the diminutives altogether once his career as a film composer started taking off.

John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is one of the world's most famous and prolific movie music composers born in Floral Park, New York. Professionally active for six decades, he has been nominated for a whopping 52 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s (winning five), six Emmy nominations (winning three including one for the 1968 MadeForTVMovie version of ''Heidi'' of "Heidi Game" infamy), 22 Golden Globes (winning four) and 59 Grammys (winning twenty). Only Creator/WaltDisney has been nominated for more Oscars, and Williams currently holds the record for most nominated living individual.

Before he rose as a famed composer, Wi
lliams was a studio pianist in Los Angeles and has performed on film scores by composers such as Music/JerryGoldsmith (''Studs Lonigan''; ''City of Fear''), Music/ElmerBernstein (''Film/SweetSmellOfSuccess''; ''God's Little Acre''; ''Staccato''; ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]''; ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''), Music/HenryMancini (he actually played the well-recognized opening riff to the ''Series/PeterGunn'' theme; ''Series/MrLucky''; ''Film/DaysOfWineAndRoses''; ''Film/{{Charade}}''), Music/AlfredNewman (''Theatre/SouthPacific''), and Jerome Moross (''Film/TheBigCountry'').

** ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' (duh-''dum'', duh-''dum''...) (1975)

** ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' (1982)

** ''Film/SchindlersList'' (1993)

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Starting in 1977 he scored the all of the Original Trilogy and the Prequel Trilogy, with well-known pieces like "Main Title" (the opening {{fanfare}}), "[[BootstrappedTheme Luke's Theme]]", "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" and "Duel of The Fates". He returned to score ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', ''Film/TheLastJedi'', and ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''. The latter has been confirmed to be [[Main/GrandFinale his very last for the franchise]]. He also scored some tracks of ''Film/{{Solo}}'' alongside John Powell.

* [[Film/Dracula1979 Dracula]]'' (1979)

* ''Film/TheSugarlandExpress'' (1974): Creator/StevenSpielberg's first feature film and his first collaboration with Williams, who would go on to score virtually every film Spielberg ever directed. See AssociatedComposer below.

* ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' (duh-''dum'', duh-''dum''...) (1975)

* ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind''.
* ''Film/{{Superman}}'' (he also wrote themes for ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'').
* The ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' films.
* ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''.

* ''Film/HomeAlone'' (and its first sequel).
* ''Film/JurassicPark'' (and ''its'' first sequel).
* ''Film/SchindlersList''.
* The first three ''Film/HarryPotter'' films (technically William Ross adapted the second from Williams's music, as he was busy scoring two Spielberg movies that year), although the main themes he composed are still used in the later films.
* ''WesternAnimation/DearBasketball'' (animated short)
* ''Film/TheAccidentalTourist''
* ''Film/Sabrina1995'', for which he also earned a Best Song nomination too.

* AssociatedComposer: Famously, Williams has scored almost all the films of Creator/StevenSpielberg. The only exceptions are ''Film/BridgeOfSpies'', due to a health issue, ''Film/TheColorPurple'', which they mutually agreed would be better served with music by Music/QuincyJones, and ''[[Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018 Ready Player One]]'', due to a scheduling conflict. He's also done a fair bit of work with Creator/GeorgeLucas, Creator/ChrisColumbus, and Creator/IrwinAllen.

!!Filmography

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': "Main Title" (the opening {{fanfare}}), "[[BootstrappedTheme Luke's Theme]]" from all of the films in the Prequel Trilogy and Original Trilogy, "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" and "Duel of The Fates" are the best known. He returned to score ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', ''Film/TheLastJedi'', and ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''. The latter has been confirmed to be [[Main/GrandFinale his very last for the franchise]]. He also scored some tracks of ''Film/{{Solo}}'' alongside John Powell.

* CreatorCameo: During ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', Williams can be briefly seen surrounded by objects referencing all 51 (at the time of filming the scene) movie scores he had composed that were nominated for an Academy Award. He dies as Kijimi blows up.

* CreatorCameo: During ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', Williams can be briefly seen surrounded by objects referencing all 51 (at the time of filming the scene) movie scores he had composed that were nominated for an Academy Award.

Before he rose as a famed composer, Williams was a studio pianist in Los Angeles and has performed on film scores by composers such as Music/JerryGoldsmith (''Studs Lonigan''; ''City of Fear''), Music/ElmerBernstein (''Film/SweetSmellOfSuccess''; ''God's Little Acre''; ''Staccato''; ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]''; ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''), Music/HenryMancini (he actually played the well-recognized opening riff to the ''Series/PeterGunn'' theme; ''Series/MrLucky''; ''Film/DaysOfWineAndRoses''; ''Film/{{Charade}}''), Music/AlfredNewman (''Theatre/SouthPacific''), and Jerome Moross (''Film/TheBigCountry'').

Not to be confused with John William'''''son''''' who is very very [[AwesomeAussie Australian]] singer/songwriter. Nor with the acclaimed classical ''guitarist'' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams_(guitarist) John Williams]]. Nor with any of the dozens of other [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams_(disambiguation) eminent historical John Williamses]]. He is however related to Joseph Williams, the singer from Music/{{Toto}} and Simba's singing voice in Disney/TheLionKing-- that would be his son.

John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is one of the world's most famous and prolific movie music composers. Professionally active for six decades, he has been nominated for a whopping 52 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s (winning five), six Emmy nominations (winning three including one for the 1968 MadeForTVMovie version of ''Heidi'' of "Heidi Game" infamy), 22 Golden Globes (winning four) and 59 Grammys (winning twenty). Only Creator/WaltDisney has been nominated for more Oscars, and Williams currently holds the record for most nominated living individual.

%% * {{Leitmotif}}

* SpoilerTitle: Even his fans admit he's incredibly guilty of this with his track titles - arguably his greatest crime in this regard is ''Film/PresumedInnocent''[[note]]''Star Wars'' fans probably believe that honour goes to track 15 of the soundtrack for''Film/ThePhantomMenace''[[/note]]. Seriously, if you don't have this soundtrack album '''do not''' get it before seeing the movie, as the penultimate track is called [[spoiler: "Barbara's Confession."]]

John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is one of the world's most famous and prolific movie music composers. Professionally active for six decades, he has been nominated for a whopping 50 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s (winning five), six Emmy nominations (winning three including one for the 1968 MadeForTVMovie version of ''Heidi'' of "Heidi Game" infamy), 22 Golden Globes (winning four) and 59 Grammys (winning twenty). Only Creator/WaltDisney has been nominated for more Oscars, and Williams currently holds the record for most nominated living individual.

* SpoilerTitle: Even his fans admit he's incredibly guilty of this with his track titles - arguably his greatest crime in this regard is ''Film/PresumedInnocent''. Seriously, if you don't have this soundtrack album '''do not''' get it before seeing the movie, as the penultimate track is called [[spoiler: "Barbara's Confession."]]

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': "Main Title" (the opening {{fanfare}}), "[[BootstrappedTheme Luke's Theme]]" from all of the films in the Prequel Trilogy and Original Trilogy, "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" and "Duel of The Fates" are the best known. He returned to score ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' and ''Film/TheLastJedi'', and is confirmed to do the score for ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', which apparently will also be [[Main/GrandFinale his very last for the Franchise]].

If you are not hearing impaired and have seen a movie in the last 30 years (or even if you haven't), you'll have certainly heard one of Williams' tunes. Most of his themes have become iconic in their own right, such as the opening {{fanfare}} of ''Franchise/StarWars'', the famous string sting from ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' or the theme for ''Franchise/IndianaJones''. Williams has long been the go-to composer for Creator/StevenSpielberg's films (he even wrote the music for the Amblin and Creator/{{Dreamworks}} logos). Likewise, his music for ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' helped give the SuperHero film genre such feeling of heroic majesty that deviating away from it has often felt a violation such as in Music/DannyElfman's different score for ''Film/ManOfSteel''.

* MusicOfNote: One of the biggest names in film scoring, and deservedly so. Think of huge film franchises like "Star Wars" or "Harry Potter" or "Indiana Jones"-- [[{{Leitmotif}} that tune]] you now have [[EarWorm stuck in your head]] is by John Williams.

If you are not hearing impaired and have seen a movie in the last 30 years (or even if you haven't), you'll have certainly heard one of Williams' tunes. Most of his themes have become iconic in their own right, such as the opening {{fanfare}} of ''Franchise/StarWars'', the famous string sting from ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' or the theme for ''Franchise/IndianaJones''. Williams has long been the go-to composer for Creator/StevenSpielberg's films (he even wrote the music for the Amblin and Creator/{{Dreamworks}} logos).

The podcast ''The Baton: A John Williams Journey''

John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is one of the world's most famous and prolific movie music composers. Professionally active for six decades, he has been nominated for a whopping 50 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s (winning five), six Emmy nominations (winning three), 22 Golden Globes (winning four) and 59 Grammys (winning twenty). Only Creator/WaltDisney has been nominated for more Oscars, and Williams currently holds the record for most nominated living individual.

In addition to his film scores, Williams has composed music for four UsefulNotes/OlympicGames, ''The Mission'' suite for the ''NBC Nightly News'' and the inauguration of President UsefulNotes/BarackObama, among many others. He also conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980-1993 and remains Director Laureate to this day.

Not to be confused with John William'''''son''''' who is very very [[AwesomeAussie Australian]] singer/songwriter. Nor with the acclaimed classical ''guitarist'' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams_(guitarist) John Williams]]. Nor with any of the dozens of other [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams_(disambiguation) eminent historical John Williamses]]. He is however related to Joseph Williams, the singer from Music/{{Toto}}-- that would be his son.