John Williams (1932–present)

John Williams is the most celebrated and influential composer in the history of American film music, whose work across more than six decades revived the large-scale symphonic film score and defined the sound of modern Hollywood. Born in Queens, New York, the son of a jazz percussionist, he moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1948, studied composition at UCLA, served in the U.S. Air Force, and later trained as a pianist under Rosina Lhévinne at the Juilliard School.

Beginning as a studio pianist and arranger (often billed as "Johnny Williams"), he broke through in the 1970s through his partnerships with directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. The two-note motif of Jaws (1975) and the sweeping main title of Star Wars (1977) returned the late-Romantic orchestral idiom to the centre of film scoring and produced some of the most recognisable themes in cinema.

Across the following decades he composed landmark scores for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, the Indiana Jones series, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and the first three Harry Potter films. Built on memorable leitmotifs, meticulous orchestration, and a strong narrative sense, his style made him the defining voice of the blockbuster era and a central influence on later film composers — among them John Powell, with whom he shared scoring duties on Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).

Alongside his screen work, Williams was Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra (1980–1993) and remains its Laureate Conductor, and he has written a substantial body of concert music. He is among the most honoured figures in his field, with five Academy Awards and more Oscar nominations than any other living person, and he has continued to compose and conduct into his nineties.