John Towner Williams is an American composer and conductor. In a career that has spanned seven decades, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable, and critically acclaimed film scores in cinema history. He has a distinct sound that mixes romanticism, impressionism and atonal music with complex orchestration. He is best known for his collaborations with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and has received numerous accolades including 26 Grammy Awards, five Academy Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. With 54 Academy Award nominations, he is the second-most nominated person, after Walt Disney, and is the oldest Oscar nominee in any category, at 92 years old.
Williams's early work as a film composer includes Valley of the Dolls, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Images and The Cowboys, The Long Goodbye and The Towering Inferno. He has collaborated with Spielberg since The Sugarland Express, composing music for all but five of his feature films. He received five Academy Awards for Best Score for Fiddler on the Roof, Jaws, Star Wars, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial and Schindler's List.