John Williams

Born February 8, 1932, Williams spent his early years scoring films like Valley of the Dolls and The Towering Inferno before a 1974 collaboration with a young Steven Spielberg on The Sugarland Express began a partnership that would define both careers. He won his first Oscar for Fiddler on the Roof in 1971, then claimed four more for Jaws, Star Wars, E.T., and Schindler's List. Beyond Spielberg and George Lucas, he composed for Hitchcock, Eastwood, Columbus, and Cuarón, and scored Superman, Home Alone, and the first three Harry Potter films. He conducted the Boston Pops from 1980 to 1993, wrote classical concertos, and at 91 became the oldest Academy Award nominee in history - his 54 nominations trailing only Walt Disney. In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II awarded him an honorary knighthood for services to film music.