John Williams

@University Of California, Los Angeles, Timeline and Childhood ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ John Williams is a multiple award-winning, widely successful American composer, conductor and pianist American Juilliard School University Of California, Los Angeles Musicians Pianists Composers Aquarius Celebrities John Williams is a multiple award-winning, widely successful American composer, conductor and pianist. As his father was a professional jazz percussionist, John developed a liking for music and symphonies at an early age. By the time he was 15, he had his own jazz band and he played and experimented with various musical instruments. He created his first original composition, a piano sonata, when he was 19. He worked as a jazz pianist and studio musician before making a name for himself in films and television in the 1960s. His career has spanned several decades and in the process he has given iconic film scores in over a 100 films including the ‘Star Wars’ series, ‘Jaws’, ‘E.T.’, ‘Indiana Jones’ series, ‘Superman’, ‘Schindler's List’, ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘Catch Me If You Can’, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’, ‘War Horse’ and ‘Lincoln’. For his efforts he has won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards and 22 Grammy Awards, highlighting the importance and quality of his work. He has enjoyed most of his success with Steven Spielberg, composing music for all but two of his films. Other than composing for films, he has conducted many national and international orchestras and authored several concert works too

Personal Details

Birthday: February 8, 1932 Nationality: American Famous: Juilliard School, University Of California, Los Angeles, Musicians, Pianists, Composers Spouses: Barbara Ruick, Samantha Winslow Known as: John Towner Williams Childrens: Jennifer Williams, Joseph Williams, Mark Towner Williams Universities: Juilliard School,University Of California, Los Angeles University of California Los Angeles 1950 - North Hollywood High School Juilliard School Information Detail Birthday February 8, 1932 Nationality American Famous Juilliard School, University Of California, Los Angeles, Musicians, Pianists, Composers Spouses Barbara Ruick, Samantha Winslow Known as John Towner Williams Childrens Jennifer Williams, Joseph Williams, Mark Towner Williams Universities Juilliard School,University Of California, Los Angeles University of California Los Angeles 1950 - North Hollywood High School Juilliard School Notable Alumnis Juilliard School University Of California Los Angeles Birth Place Floral Park Height 182cm Gender Male Father Johnny Williams Mother Esther Williams Net Worth $100 Million Sun Sign Aquarius Born in Floral Park Famous as Composer

Floral Park

John Williams born at Unsplash Birth Place

John Williams married American actress and singer, Barbara Ruick in 1956. The couple had three children: Jennifer, Joseph and Mark. Barbara passed away in 1974. Unsplash Personal Life

He married Samantha Winslow, a photographer, in 1980. Unsplash Personal Life

John Williams was born on February 8, 1932 in Floral Park, New York, to Esther and Johnny Williams. His father was a jazz percussionist with the CBS radio orchestra. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Owing to his father's profession and interests, music and instruments left an impression in the young boy’s mind and soon he began playing the piano, trumpet, trombone and clarinet. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

After moving to Los Angeles in 1948, he attended North Hollywood High School and the University of California, LA. He was also privately tutored by the Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco for some time. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

In 1952, he was drafted into the U.S. Air Force. He used to conduct and arrange music for the Air Force band till his service ended in 1955. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

In 1955, he enrolled at The Julliard School in New York City and studied piano with Rosina Lhevinne. Here, he also began playing in many clubs with Jack Sperling on drums, Bob Bain on guitar and Rolly Bundock on bass. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

After his first film composition for ‘Daddy-O’ in 1958, John Williams composed music for films like ‘Peter Gunn’, ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ and TV programs such as ‘Bachelor Father’, the ‘Kraft Suspense Theatre’, ‘Lost in Space’, etc. during the 1960s. Unsplash Career

He gained reputation and made a name for himself with the musical scores for the films ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘Images’, ‘The Poseidon Adventure’, ‘The Towering Inferno’, ‘Earthquake’, and ‘The Cowboys’ during the early 1970s. Unsplash Career

In 1974, he composed the music for Steven Spielberg's directorial debut 'The Sugarland Express'. This marked the beginning of a very long director-composer bond between them, with John Williams composing for all but two films by Spielberg. Unsplash Career

In 1978 he worked with director Richard Donner for the film 'Superman'. The love theme ‘Can You Read My Mind’ appeared in the next four sequels too. Unsplash Career

In 1980, he succeeded Arthur Fiedler as the Boston Pops Orchestra's Principal conductor. Years later, he vacated the position for former associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Keith Lockhart. Unsplash Career

John Williams currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person with 50 nominations and is second only to Walt Disney (59 nominations) in the Academy Awards history. Unsplash Awards & Achievements

He has won the Academy Award on five different occasions. These include: ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ (1971), ‘Jaws’ (1975) and ‘Star Wars’ (1977), ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’ (1982) and ‘Schindler's List’ (1993). Unsplash Awards & Achievements

In 2003, he was accorded the International Olympic Committee’s highest honor, the Olympic Order. A year later, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. Unsplash Awards & Achievements

For his achievements in Symphonic music, he was given the National Medal of Arts in the White House in 2009 and a Ken Burns Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. Unsplash Awards & Achievements

He has also been inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. Unsplash Awards & Achievements

Information	Detail
Birthday	February 8, 1932
Nationality	American
Famous	Juilliard School, University Of California, Los Angeles, Musicians, Pianists, Composers
Spouses	Barbara Ruick, Samantha Winslow
Known as	John Towner Williams
Childrens	Jennifer Williams, Joseph Williams, Mark Towner Williams
Universities	Juilliard School,University Of California, Los Angeles University of California Los Angeles 1950 - North Hollywood High School Juilliard School
Notable Alumnis	Juilliard School University Of California Los Angeles
Birth Place	Floral Park
Height	182cm
Gender	Male
Father	Johnny Williams
Mother	Esther Williams
Net Worth	$100 Million
Sun Sign	Aquarius
Born in	Floral Park
Famous as	Composer

John Williams

American

Feb 8, 1932

Biography

Personal Details

Floral Park