James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, music producer and keyboardist. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
, an
Emmy Award, and nine nominations for
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. His film scores include ''
Pretty Woman'' (1990), ''
The Fugitive'' (1993), ''
Space Jam'' (1996), ''
Peter Pan'' (2003), ''
King Kong'' (2005), ''
The Dark Knight'' (2008) which he composed with
Hans Zimmer, and ''
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' (often referred to as simply ''Fantastic Beasts'') is a 2001 guide book written by British author J. K. Rowling (under the pen name of the fictitious author Newt Scamander) about the magical crea ...
'' (2016). He has collaborated extensively with directors
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an Indian-American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for making original films with contemporary supernatural plots and twist endings. He was born in Mahé, India, and raise ...
and
Francis Lawrence, having scored eight of Shyamalan's films since ''
The Sixth Sense
''The Sixth Sense'' is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient ( Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see and talk to the dead.
Released ...
'' (1999) and all of Lawrence's films since ''
I Am Legend'' (2007).
Early life and career
Howard was born in Los Angeles. He is from a musical family; his grandmother was a violinist. His father was Jewish but he did not want his children to know he was, so he changed his last name from Horowitz to Howard.
Howard began studying music as a child, taking classical piano lessons at the age of four.
He went on to attend the
Thacher School
The Thacher School is an elite private co-educational boarding school in Ojai, California. Founded in 1889 as a boys' school, it is now the oldest co-educational boarding school in California. Girls were first admitted in 1977. The first co-ed gra ...
in
Ojai, California and the
Music Academy of the West in
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning " Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West ...
with Reginald Stewart and Leon Fleischer.
He then attended the
University of Southern California, studying at the School of Music as a piano performance major, but dropped out after 6 weeks because "He wanted to do other things than practicing the piano."
After Howard left college, he joined a short-lived rock band called Mama Lion. The band was led by
Neil Merryweather (bass, backing vocals) and featured lead singer
Lynn Carey, Coffi Hall on drums, and Rick Gaxiola on guitar. Mama Lion recorded two full-length albums. Members of Mama Lion also formed the band Heavy Cruiser with Merryweather now on lead vocals, recording two albums whose genre was closer to hard rock but also displayed psychedelic and progressive influences. He then worked for a couple of years as a session musician with artists including
Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...
,
Ringo Starr, and
Harry Nilsson. In the early 70s, he described himself as being "dirt poor", until his big break in 1975 when his manager got him an audition with
Elton John. He joined John's band and toured with them as keyboardist during the late 70s and early 80s. He was part of the band that played
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
,
New York, on September 13, 1980. Howard also arranged strings for several of John's songs during this period including the hits "
Don't Go Breaking My Heart
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a 1976 duet by English musician Elton John and English singer Kiki Dee. It was written by John with Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms "Ann Orson" and "Carte Blanche", respectively, and intended as an affectiona ...
" and "
Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word", and played additional keyboards and synthesizers on studio albums including ''
Rock of the Westies'' (1975), ''
Blue Moves'' (1976), ''
21 at 33'' (1980), and ''
The Fox'' (1981).
In 1982, Howard was featured on ''
Toto IV'' as the strings conductor and orchestrator for "I Won't Hold You Back", "Afraid of Love", and "Lovers in the Night". In 1984 the Sheffield Lab direct-to-disc album ''James Newton Howard and Friends'', was released, which featured
Toto's
David Paich (keyboards),
Steve Porcaro (keyboards),
Jeff Porcaro
Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working o ...
(drums), and
Joe Porcaro (percussion).
In 1983, Howard was co-producer, musician (keyboards), and orchestrator of
Riccardo Cocciante
Riccardo Cocciante (; born 20 February 1946), also known in French-speaking countries and the U.S. as Richard Cocciante (), is an Italian singer, composer, theatre man and musician. He acquired French citizenship.
Personal life
Cocciante was ...
's album ''Sincerità''.
In 1984, Howard composed his first piece of score for a film, receiving a co-writing credit with David Paich for the cue "Trip to Arrakis" in Toto's music for the
David Lynch film ''
Dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
''.
After briefly touring with
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member, ...
, he took an opportunity brought to him by his manager to write a score for a film. This career move would lead to his becoming a successful film music composer. During this early foray into film music, he did not entirely abandon his previous musical path and returned for a brief collaboration with Elton John on his Tour De Force of Australia in the fall of 1986. He conducted both his own and
Paul Buckmaster's arrangements during the second half of the set, which focused on orchestrated performances of selected songs from the Elton John catalog.
1990s–2000s
Howard scored the surprise blockbuster
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...
''
Pretty Woman'' (1990) and received his first
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nomination for his score for
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
'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 action feature ''
The Fugitive'' (1993), the
Julia Roberts romantic comedy ''
My Best Friend's Wedding
''My Best Friend's Wedding'' is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by P.J. Hogan from a screenplay by Ronald Bass. The film stars Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, and Rupert Everett.
The film received generally positive ...
'' (1997),
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an Indian-American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for making original films with contemporary supernatural plots and twist endings. He was born in Mahé, India, and raise ...
's ''
The Village'' (2004), and ''
Michael Clayton
''Michael Clayton'' is a 2007 American legal thriller film written and directed by Tony Gilroy in his feature directorial debut and starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack. Clooney plays lawyer Michael Clayton, w ...
'' (2007). In addition, Howard scored the Western epic ''
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which la ...
'' (1994),
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...
's ''
Waterworld'' (1995), and ''
Primal Fear'' (1996). His collaborations on songs for ''
One Fine Day'' (1996) and ''
Junior'' (1994) garnered Oscar nominations for
Best Song. Along with scoring small-scaled, independent films such 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
''Dante's Peak'' is a 1997 American disaster thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson, written by Leslie Bohem, and starring Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, and Charles Hallahan. The film is set in the fictional town of Dante's Peak where the in ...
'' (1997) (theme only – score was composed by
John Frizzell), and ''
Collateral'' (2004). He has also scored four Disney animated feature films: ''
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
'' (2000), ''
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
''Atlantis: The Lost Empire'' is a 2001 American animated science fiction film, science fiction action film, action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ...
'' (2001), ''
Treasure Planet'' (2002), and ''
Raya and the Last Dragon'' (2021). Although he concentrates primarily on films, Howard has also contributed music for TV, earning an
Emmy nomination in 1995 for his theme to
NBC's ratings smash ''
ER'' (Howard also scored the two-hour pilot); he also provided the themes for ''
The Sentinel'' and ''
Gideon's Crossing'', winning an Emmy for the latter.
He has scored many of Shyamalan's suspense thrillers, ''
The Sixth Sense
''The Sixth Sense'' is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient ( Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see and talk to the dead.
Released ...
'' (1999), ''
Unbreakable'' (2000), ''
Signs'' (2002), ''
The Village'' (2004), ''
Lady in the Water
''Lady in the Water'' is a 2006 American fantasy psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who produced with Sam Mercer. The film features the starring cast of Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard with Bob Balab ...
'' (2006), ''
The Happening'' (2008), and ''
The Last Airbender'' (2010), notably dropping the intense, yet subtle, opening credit music for ''The Sixth Sense'' from the corresponding soundtrack album.
On October 14, 2005, Howard replaced
Howard Shore as composer for ''
King Kong'', due to "differing creative aspirations for the score" between Shore and director
Peter Jackson. The resultant score earned Howard his first
Golden Globe nomination for
Best Original Score. His work on ''
Michael Clayton
''Michael Clayton'' is a 2007 American legal thriller film written and directed by Tony Gilroy in his feature directorial debut and starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack. Clooney plays lawyer Michael Clayton, w ...
'' earned him an Oscar nomination. He followed in 2008 with his eighth Oscar nomination for
Edward Zwick's ''
Defiance''.
He also collaborated with
Hans Zimmer on the scores for ''
Batman Begins'' and its record-breaking sequel ''
The Dark Knight''.
Further works were ''
The Happening'', his sixth film with
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an Indian-American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for making original films with contemporary supernatural plots and twist endings. He was born in Mahé, India, and raise ...
, ''
Blood Diamond
''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds min ...
'', ''
Michael Clayton
''Michael Clayton'' is a 2007 American legal thriller film written and directed by Tony Gilroy in his feature directorial debut and starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack. Clooney plays lawyer Michael Clayton, w ...
'', ''
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep'', ''
I Am Legend'', ''
Charlie Wilson's War'', and Shyamalan's
film adaptation of the Nickelodeon series ''
Avatar: the Last Airbender.''
Howard debuted his work for symphony orchestra, ''I Would Plant A Tree,'' in February 2009 as part of the Pacific Symphony's annual American Composers Festival. The debut took place at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, California, with the Symphony under the direction of Carl St.Clair.
After being replaced in later seasons, his original theme song for the hit TV show ''ER'' returned for the final episode of the series.
2010s
In September 2010, he was appointed visiting professor of media composition at the
Royal Academy of Music in London.
From 2012 to 2015, James Newton Howard scored the music for the critically acclaimed ''
Hunger Games'' franchise.
From 2014 to 2015, Howard saw major success with ''
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1'' when he composed the score for the movie, which included "
The Hanging Tree", featuring vocals from actress
Jennifer Lawrence. The song peaked at number 12 on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online stream ...
, becoming the highest-charting single from ''The Hunger Games'' movies and both Howard's and Lawrence's first chart single.
In 2014, Howard scored two
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-nominated films, ''
Nightcrawler'' and ''
Maleficent''.
Howard composed the score for the fantasy drama ''
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' (often referred to as simply ''Fantastic Beasts'') is a 2001 guide book written by British author J. K. Rowling (under the pen name of the fictitious author Newt Scamander) about the magical crea ...
'', a spin-off/prequel of the ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...
'' film series, and for its sequels, ''
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'' and ''
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore''.
In 2015, James Newton Howard was named the new artistic director of the Henry Mancini Institute (HMI) at the
Frost School of Music at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
in Coral Gables, Florida.
On March 23–24, 2019, ''
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra'' gave the world premiere of Howard's Concerto for Cello & Orchestra with LACO principal cello
Andrew Shulman as the soloist. The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' described the work as having "an elegiac tone, along with thematic material from the beginning and closing titles of ''
Red Sparrow
''Red Sparrow'' is a 2018 American spy thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Justin Haythe, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Jason Matthews. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, ...
''" the score of which Howard was working on while first composing the concerto.
Personal life
When delving into his family history, twenty-five years after the death of his father, Howard learned that his father was
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
(the family's original surname was ''Horowitz''). Although raised
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, Howard later became a practicing
Reconstructionist Jew.
James Newton Howard was married to
Rosanna Arquette in 1986, they divorced one year later. In 1992, he married Sophie Howard and they have two children: Jackson and Hayden.
Awards
In May 2008, he was made an Honorary Member of the
Royal Academy of Music.
In 2009, he was awarded a Grammy alongside Hans Zimmer for the score soundtrack album to ''
The Dark Knight''.
In October 2015, he was honored with the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award during the annual
Hollywood in Vienna
Hollywood in Vienna is an annual film music gala hosted in the Vienna Concert Hall where the ''Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award'' is presented.
Overview
"Hollywood in Vienna" is a red carpet film music gala-concert in the Vienna Conce ...
concert.
Discography
Albums
Works as composer
Film
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Television
Other work
See also
*
List of film director and composer collaborations
* The following film directors and film score composers have worked together on multiple projects.
A
Ali Abbasi
*Martin Dirkov
**'' Shelley'' (2016)
**''Border'' (2018)
J. J. Abrams
* Michael Giacchino
**''Alias'' (2001–2006)
**''Lost ...
References
External links
*
*
Full discography James Newton Howardat FilmMusicSite.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, James Newton
1951 births
20th-century American composers
20th-century American conductors (music)
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American keyboardists
20th-century American male musicians
20th-century American pianists
21st-century American composers
21st-century American conductors (music)
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American keyboardists
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American pianists
American film score composers
American male conductors (music)
American male film score composers
American male pianists
American rock keyboardists
American rock pianists
American session musicians
American television composers
Animated film score composers
Classical musicians from California
Converts to Judaism from Protestantism
Converts to Reconstructionist Judaism
Elton John Band members
Emmy Award winners
Grammy Award winners
Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music
Intrada Records artists
Jewish American classical musicians
Jewish American film score composers
Jewish American songwriters
Jewish American television composers
Living people
Music Academy of the West alumni
Musicians from Los Angeles
People from Ventura County, California
Private Music artists
Songwriters from California
The Thacher School alumni
USC Thornton School of Music alumni
Varèse Sarabande Records artists
Walt Disney Animation Studios people