Kobe Bryant considers him a muse. Harrison Ford says he elevates entertainment to art. Seth MacFarlane calls him “the single greatest talent working in Hollywood.”
John Williams, creator of the iconic music from Superman, Star Wars, Jaws, E.T. and Jurassic Park, is also the first composer to receive the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award. He accepted the honour at a black-tie dinner at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre that’s set to air as a TV special Wednesday night on TNT. Bryant, Ford and MacFarlane were among the stars celebrating Williams’ contributions to cinema.
Steven Spielberg presented his longtime friend and collaborator with the award.
“Without John Williams, bikes don’t really fly,” Spielberg said. “Nor do brooms in Quidditch matches; nor do men in red capes. There is no Force. Dinosaurs don’t walk the Earth… You take our movies, many of them about our most impossible dreams, and through your musical genius, you make them real and everlasting for billions and billions of people.”
Williams has scored more than 100 films and received an astounding 50 Oscar nominations. He also composed the theme songs for Sunday Night Football, NBC’s Nightly News and the Olympics.