John Williams in 2019.Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty
John Williamsis still making history.
On Tuesday, the legendary composer received a Best Original Score nomination at the upcoming 95thAcademy Awardsfor his work onSteven Spielberg’sThe Fabelmans. This makes for his 48th nomination for a score and 53rd overall Oscar nomination.
Williams, 90, is the most-nominated person alive andbroke his own recordwith the nomination, which he last broke in 2020 as he was nominated forStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The composer has won five Oscars forSchindler’s List,E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Wars, JawsandFiddler on the Roof. In terms of the most Oscar nominations in history, he trails only behind Walt Disney, who received 59 nominations (including 22 total wins), according toForbes.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also noted in a press release that Williams is “to the best of our knowledge” the oldest Oscar nominee in a competitive award category.
“I’m very grateful to the Academy for their kind recognition, and I’m enormously grateful to Steven Spielberg for offering me the opportunity to compose the score for this very special and personal film,” Williams said in a statement, perThe Hollywood Reporter.
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That wouldn’t be the last time the composer would be nominated more than once in a year. Williams scored three nominations in 1973 for scoringCinderella LibertyandTom Sawyerand also received a Best Song nomination forCinderella Liberty’s “Nice To Be Around.”
Most of Williams' work is widely known and highly regarded, having scored the music for all nineStar Warsfilms, fourIndiana Jonesfilms and the first threeHarry Potterfilms.
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In 2005, the American Film Institute chose Williams' score to the 1977Star Warsfilm as the greatest American film score of all time, while the Library of Congress entered the soundtrack into the National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
Williams received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016, and Spielberg — who has worked with Williams on all but five of his films — praised the composer’s career contributions as he presented his frequent collaborator with the award.
“Without John Williams, bikes don’t really fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches, and nor do men in red capes. There is no Force. Dinosaurs do not walk the Earth. We do not wonder, we do not weep, we do not believe,” Spielberg said at the time.
source: people.com
