Fifty years into his artistic partnership with Steven Spielberg, legendary composer John Williams is finding new ways to make history. Upon Tuesday's announcement of the 95th Oscar nominations, Williams, who is 90 years old, became the oldest nominee to compete for an Oscar.
Williams' latest nomination — his 53rd — comes for scoring The Fabelmans, the coming-of-age drama based on Spielberg's own childhood. (This is the 31st Spielberg film that Williams has scored.) The film received a total of seven nominations, with Spielberg earning nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, his very first nomination as a screenwriter.
Williams has earned more Oscar nominations than any other living person — 48 for Best Original Score and five for Original Song — and currently holds the record for the second-most nominations of any artist ever. (Behind only Walt Disney, who was nominated 59 times.) He is also, to the best of our knowledge, the oldest nominee in a competitive award category. That distinction was previously held by Agnès Varda and James Ivory, both of whom were nominated in 2018 at 89 years old.
In a statement, the composer said, "I'm very grateful to the Academy for their kind recognition, and I'm enormously grateful to Steven Spielberg for offering me the opportunity to compose the score for this very special and personal film."
Williams has won five Oscars for Best Original Score, winning his first over a half century ago for 1971’s Fiddler on the Roof. He has since won for 1975's Jaws, 1977's Star Wars, 1982's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and 1993's Schindler's List.
The 95th Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 12, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and airing live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
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