James Newton Howard

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James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951 in Los Angeles) is an Academy Award nominated film score composer.

[edit] Biography

Throughout his prolific career, composer/musician/songwriter James Newton Howard has scored films of all scales and genres, earning multiple award nominations for his work. Howard began studying music as a small child and went on to attend the Thacher School in Ojai, California^[1]; the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California; and then majored in piano performance at the University of Southern California^[2]. After Howard left college, he toured with Elton John as a keyboardist during the late 1970s and early 1980s before moving into film music in the mid-1980s^[3].

By the 1990s, Howard truly hit his career stride, scoring the surprise blockbuster romantic comedy Pretty Woman (1990) and receiving his first Academy Award nomination for his score for Barbra Streisand's drama The Prince of Tides (1991). Setting the musical mood for numerous films throughout the decade, Howard's skills encompassed a plethora of genres, including four more best original score Oscar nominations, for the Harrison Ford actioner The Fugitive (1993), the Julia Roberts romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding, M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004) and most recently, Michael Clayton (2008). In addition, Howard scored the Western epic Wyatt Earp (1994), Kevin Costner's Waterworld (1995), and Primal Fear (1996). He has scored all of Shyamalan's suspense thrillers, The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002), The Village (2004), Lady in the Water (2006), and The Happening (2008)

His collaborations on tunes for One Fine Day (1996) and Junior (1994) garnered Best Song nods. Along with scoring such smaller, character-driven films as Five Corners (1988), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), and American Heart (1993), Howard proved equally skilled at composing for big-budget Hollywood spectacles, including Space Jam (1996), Dante's Peak (1997) (theme only - score was composed by John Frizzell), and Collateral (2004). He has also scored three Disney feature films which are Dinosaur (2000) Treasure Planet and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Though he concentrated primarily on films, Howard has also contributed music for TV series, earning an Emmy nomination in 1995 for his theme to NBC's ratings smash ER.

Howard is now one of the most recognized composers for film^[4]. His work on Michael Clayton earned him his latest Oscar nomination. Since, he has composed for several major motion pictures, notably the score for Batman Begins which he co-wrote with Hans Zimmer. On October 14, 2005, it was officially announced that James Newton Howard would replace Howard Shore as composer for King Kong, due to "differing creative aspirations for the score" between Shore and director Peter Jackson^[5]. The resultant score earned Howard his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score. His most recent works are Lady in the Water, his fifth film with M. Night Shyamalan, Blood Diamond, Michael Clayton, The Water Horse, I Am Legend, Charlie Wilson's War, The Dark Knight and The Lookout. It is also rumored that he will be composing music for the M. Night Shyamalan movie adaptation of the Nickelodeon series "Avatar: the Last Airbender". Additionally, in a radio interview[1] from early 2008, James revealed that he will collaborate with Terrence Malick "in about a year", a project likely to be the director's upcoming Tree of Life (2009). However, this has not yet been officially confirmed.

[edit] Discography and Filmography

[edit] Awards and Nominations

[edit] Nominations

• 1991: ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION - Best Original Score THE PRINCE OF TIDES
• 1993: ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION - Best Original Score THE FUGITIVE
• 1994: GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATION - Best Original Song \"Look What Love Has Done\" from JUNIOR
• 1994: ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION (1994) Best Original Song - \"Look What Love Has Done\" from JUNIOR
• 1996: GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD NOMINATION - Best Original Song \"For The First Time\" from ONE FINE DAY
• 1996: ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION - Best Original Song \"For The First Time\" from ONE FINE DAY
• 1997: GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATION - Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television \"For The First Time\" from ONE FINE DAY
• 1997: ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION - Best Original Musical or Comedy Score MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING
• 2000: GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATION - Best Instrumental Composition “The Egg Travels” from DINOSAUR
• 2001: EMMY AWARD - Outstanding Main Title Theme Music GIDEON’S CROSSING
• 2002: GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATION - Best Instrumental Composition - “Main Titles” from SIGNS
• 2005: ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION - Best Original Score THE VILLAGE
• 2005: GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD NOMINATION - Best Original Score KING KONG
• 2007: INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION NOMINATION - Film Composer of the Year
• 2008: 80th Academy Awards: Best Original Score - \"Michael Clayton\"
• 2008: Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media – Blood Diamond
• 2008: Classical Brit Awards: Soundtrack of the Year - Blood Diamond

[edit] See also

• List of noted film producer and composer collaborations

[edit] External links

• James-Newton-Howard.com (unofficial site)
• All Music Guide to James Newton Howard
• James Newton Howard at the Internet Movie Database