James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an eight time Academy Award-nominated American film score composer, orchestrator, and music producer. He is best known for his scores to movies. A score is the music that is heard during a movie. He has written the music for over 100 movies. He is now one of the most well-known composers for movies.
Some of Howard's best known movie scores include The Prince of Tides (1991), The Fugitive (1993), Dinosaur (2000), King Kong (2005), Batman Begins, I Am Legend (2007) The Dark Knight (2008). Recent movies include Green Lantern (2011), The Hunger Games (2012), Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), and The Bourne Legacy (2012).
Howard is also known for working with director M. Night Shyamalan. He has scored all Shyamalan's films starting with The Sixth Sense and ending with After Earth.
From 1986 to 1987, Howard was married to actress Rosanna Arquette.
Filmography[]
Composer[]
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)
- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)
- Jungle Cruise (2021)
- Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
- News of the World (2020)
- A Hidden Life (2019)
- Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
- The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)
- Red Sparrow (2018)
- Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)
- Detroit (2017)
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
- The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)
- Concussion (2015)
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)
- Pawn Sacrifice (2014)
- Maleficent (2014)
- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
- Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
- The Hunger Games (2012)
- Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)
- Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010)
- The Dark Knight (2008)
- I Am Legend (2007)
- Freedomland (2006)
- King Kong (2005)
- Batman Begins (2005)
- Hidalgo (2004)
- Peter Pan (2003)
- Dreamcatcher (2003)
- Treasure Planet (2002)
- Big Trouble (2002)
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
- Dinosaur (2000)
- The Sixth Sense (1999)
- A Perfect Murder (1998)
- The Postman (1997)
- Space Jam (1996)
- Restoration (1995)
- Intersection (1994)
- The Fugitive (1993)
- Diggstown (1992)
- The Man in the Moon (1991)
- Marked for Death (1990)
- Tap (1989)
- Some Girls (1988)
- Five Corners (1987)
- Tough Guys (1986)
- Head Office (1985)
Biographical information[]
Early life[]
Howard was born in Los Angeles, California. He began studying music as a child and went on to attend the Thacher School in Ojai, California, the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, and later majored in piano performance at the University of Southern California. After leaving college, he toured with Elton John as a keyboardist during the late 1970s and early 1980s and was part of the band that played behind John in Central Park, New York, on September 13, 1980. Howard also arranged strings for several of Elton's songs during this period, including the hits "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word", as well as playing additional keyboards and synthesizers on several of Elton's studio albums, including "Rock of The Westies" (1975), "Blue Moves" (1976), "21 At 33" (1980), and "The Fox" (1981).
After his tenure with Elton John, Howard toured briefly with Crosby, Stills and Nash before moving into film music in the mid-1980s. Howard did, however, return for a brief collaboration with Elton John on the final night of John's Australia tour in December 1987. Howard 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 John's catalog. After his father died, Howard learned from his grandfather that his family was Jewish.
Trivia[]
- He replaced Danny Elfman for two films, The Green Hornet and The Hunger Games.
- He and Hans Zimmer were awarded a Saturn Award and a Grammy Award for The Dark Knight.
- He dropped out of The Dark Knight Rises to do The Hunger Games.
- His trademark is that he never conducts his own music.
- He wrote original music for Batman Begins trailer.
- He is known to work on a short schedule. The scores for King Kong and The Hunger Games were composed in one month.
- He is often called to score film when a previous composer drops out. He is also known to add to music that has already been written. Danny Elfman with The Green Hornet and The Hunger Games, and Alan Silvestri with Treasure Planet.
- James Newton Howard composed 3 Disney films in a row. Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet.
- He has composed every film directed by M. Night Shyamlan.
- He has been nominated for many Academy-Awards for Best Original Score. He was nominated for The Prince of Tides, The Fugitive, The Village, Micheal Clayton, and Defiance. He was nominated for 2 Oscars for Best Original Song. He has yet to win an award.
- He and Hans Zimmer won a Grammy and a Saturn Award for their work on The Dark Knight.
- His favorite score pieces of music through his career have been The Launch from Treasure Planet, Horn of Plenty from The Hunger Games, Harvey Two Face from The Dark Knight, Central Park from King Kong, and As Water Flows from The Last Airbender.