Thomas Newman
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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2013) |
| Thomas Newman | |
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 Newman at Classic Brit Awards in 2010 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas Montgomery Newman |
| Born | October 20, 1955 |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupations | Composer |
Thomas Montgomery Newman (born October 20, 1955) is an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores.
Newman has received a total of eleven Academy Award nominations, although as of 2013, he has yet to win the award. He has however won two BAFTAs, five Grammys and an Emmy, and has been nominated for three Golden Globes. Newman was honored with the Richard Kirk award at the 2000 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.[1]
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Personal life [edit]
Born in Los Angeles, California, he was the youngest son of Mississippi-born Martha Louise (née Montgomery) and composer Alfred Newman. He is a member of a film-scoring dynasty in Hollywood that includes his father, brother David Newman, sister Maria Newman, uncles Lionel Newman and Emil Newman, cousin Randy Newman (who is also known as a singer and songwriter) and his nephew Joey Newman. Newman was educated at Yale University and University of Southern California.
Newman and his wife, Ann Marie Zirbes, have three children.
Film scoring career [edit]
His first major score was for the 1984 film Reckless. In 1992, Newman composed the score to Martin Brest's film Scent of a Woman. In 1994, he composed the scores to The Shawshank Redemption and Little Women, both of which garnered him Academy Award Nominations (one each). He also scored the film The War. In 1996, he scored Diane Keaton's Unstrung Heroes, receiving yet another Oscar nomination. In 1998, he scored Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer as well as Meet Joe Black. In 1999, Newman composed the score to Sam Mendes' first feature film American Beauty, created using mainly percussion instruments. Newman believed the score helped move the film along without disturbing the "moral ambiguity" of the script, saying "It was a real delicate balancing act in terms of what music worked to preserve that."[2] This was his first collaboration with Mendes, and he would go on to score all of the director's subsequent films except for Away We Go. He received a fourth Oscar nomination for this score, and although he lost again (to John Corigliano for The Red Violin), he did receive a Grammy and a BAFTA.
His critical and commercial success has continued in the following years with his scores for films such as Meet Joe Black, The Green Mile, Erin Brockovich, In the Bedroom and The Salton Sea. He was nominated consecutively for a further three Academy Awards, for Road to Perdition (2002), Finding Nemo (2003), and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004). However, he lost on each occasion to Elliot Goldenthal (for Frida), Howard Shore (for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), and Jan A. P. Kaczmarek (for Finding Neverland) respectively.
He was again nominated for an Oscar for scoring Steven Soderbergh's The Good German (2006). At the Oscar ceremony, he appeared in the opening segment by Errol Morris, who jokingly stated that Newman had been nominated for and failed to win an Oscar eight times. Newman replied: "No, I've failed seven but this will be my eighth", and indeed, he again lost, this time to Gustavo Santaolalla for Babel.
His first score since The Good German was for the 2008 animated film WALL-E, collaborating for the second time with director Andrew Stanton (with the first collaboration being Finding Nemo). The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (as had "Nemo"). Newman received two Oscar nominations: one for Best Original Score, and another for Best Original Song for "Down to Earth", which he co-wrote with Peter Gabriel. He was nominated in the Original Score category with two other veteran composers, James Newton-Howard and Danny Elfman, both of whom have also been nominated for several Oscars but each time unsuccessfully. Newman lost both the score and song nominations to A R Rahman for his work on Slumdog Millionaire. He and Peter Gabriel did however win a Grammy for "Down to Earth".
In 2008 Newman scored Towelhead and Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road and in 2009 he scored Brothers. In 2011, Newman scored the following films: The Help, The Debt, and The Adjustment Bureau.
In 2012, Newman scored The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. He also scored the 23rd James Bond movie Skyfall, directed by his longtime collaborator Sam Mendes, which celebrates the film franchise's 50th anniversary.[3] His work on this film earned him his eleventh Oscar nomination and a second BAFTA win.
Film Scores [edit]
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Reckless | James Foley | |
| Revenge of the Nerds | Jeff Kanew | ||
| Grandview, U.S.A. | Randal Kleiser | ||
| 1985 | Desperately Seeking Susan | Susan Seidelman | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande. Album shared with Making Mr. Right |
| Girls Just Want to Have Fun | Alan Metter | ||
| The Man With One Red Shoe | Stan Dragoti | ||
| Real Genius | Martha Coolidge | ||
| Amazing Stories | Various | Episode Santa '85. Soundtrack released by Intrada | |
| 1986 | Gung Ho | Ron Howard | |
| Jumpin' Jack Flash | Penny Marshall | Song album with two Newman tracks | |
| 1987 | Light of Day | Paul Schrader | Song album with one Newman track |
| The Lost Boys | Joel Schumacher | Song album with one Newman track | |
| Less Than Zero | Marek Kanievska | Song album; no Newman score | |
| 1988 | The Prince of Pennsylvania | Ron Nyswaner | |
| The Great Outdoors | Howard Deutch | Song album with one Newman track | |
| 1989 | Cookie | Susan Seidelman | |
| 1990 | Men Don't Leave | Paul Brickman | |
| Heat Wave TV | Kevin Hooks | ||
| Naked Tango | Leonard Schrader | ||
| Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael | Jim Abrahams | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| 1991 | Career Opportunities | Bryan Gordon | Song album with three Newman tracks released by Curb |
| Deceived | Damian Harris | ||
| The Rapture | Michael Tolkin | Song album with ten Newman tracks | |
| The Linguini Incident | Richard Shepard | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| Fried Green Tomatoes | Jon Avnet | Song album with three Newman tracks and separate score album, both released by MCA | |
| 1992 | Those Secrets TV | David Manson | Soundtrack released by Masters Film Music |
| The Player | Robert Altman | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| Whispers in the Dark | Christopher Crowe | Varèse Sarabande album release cancelled; released by Intrada in 2012 | |
| Citizen Cohn TV | Frank Pierson | ||
| Scent of a Woman | Martin Brest | Soundtrack released by MCA | |
| 1993 | Flesh and Bone | Steve Kloves | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande |
| Josh and S.A.M. | Billy Weber | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| 1994 | Threesome | Andrew Fleming | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande. Twinned with American Buffalo |
| The Favor | Donald Petrie | ||
| The Shawshank Redemption | Frank Darabont | Soundtrack released by Sony BMG | |
| The War | Jon Avnet | Song album with 12 Newman tracks released by MCA | |
| Corrina, Corrina | Jessie Nelson | Song album with one Newman track | |
| Little Women | Gillian Armstrong | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical | |
| 1995 | Unstrung Heroes | Diane Keaton | Soundtrack released by Hollywood Records |
| How to Make an American Quilt | Jocelyn Moorhouse | Soundtrack released by MCA | |
| 1996 | Up Close & Personal | Jon Avnet | Soundtrack released by Hollywood Records |
| Phenomenon | Jon Turteltaub | Song album with one Newman track released by Reprise | |
| American Buffalo | Michael Corrente | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande. Twinned with Threesome | |
| The People vs. Larry Flynt | Miloš Forman | Soundtrack released by Angel Records | |
| 1997 | Mad City | Costa Gavras | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande |
| Red Corner | Jon Avnet | Soundtrack released by EAR | |
| Oscar and Lucinda | Gillian Armstrong | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical | |
| 1998 | The Horse Whisperer | Robert Redford | Soundtrack released by Hollywood Records |
| Meet Joe Black | Martin Brest | Soundtrack released by Universal Records | |
| 1999 | American Beauty | Sam Mendes | Soundtrack released by DreamWorks |
| The Green Mile | Frank Darabont | Soundtrack released by Warner Bros. | |
| 2000 | Erin Brockovich | Steven Soderbergh | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical |
| Pay It Forward | Mimi Leder | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| 2001 | In the Bedroom | Todd Field | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande |
| 2002 | The Salton Sea | D. J. Caruso | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande |
| Road to Perdition | Sam Mendes | Soundtrack released by Decca Records | |
| White Oleander | Peter Kosminsky | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| 2003 | Finding Nemo | Andrew Stanton | Soundtrack released by Walt Disney Records |
| Angels in America | Mike Nichols | Soundtrack released by Nonesuch | |
| 2004 | Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events | Brad Silberling | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical |
| 2005 | Cinderella Man | Ron Howard | Soundtrack released by Decca Records |
| Jarhead | Sam Mendes | Soundtrack released by Decca Records | |
| 2006 | Little Children | Todd Field | Soundtrack released by Silva Screen Records |
| The Good German | Steven Soderbergh | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| 2007 | Towelhead | Alan Ball | Soundtrack released by Lakeshore Records |
| 2008 | WALL-E | Andrew Stanton | Soundtrack released by Walt Disney Records |
| Revolutionary Road | Sam Mendes | Soundtrack released by Nonesuch | |
| 2009 | Brothers | Jim Sheridan | Soundtrack released by Relativity Music Group |
| 2011 | The Debt | John Madden | Soundtrack released by Relativity Music Group, Silva Screen Music |
| The Adjustment Bureau | George Nolfi | Soundtrack released by Relativity Music Group | |
| The Help | Tate Taylor | Score album released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| The Iron Lady | Phyllida Lloyd | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical | |
| 2012 | The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | John Madden | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical |
| The Newsroom | Various | Main Theme and Pilot | |
| Skyfall | Sam Mendes | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical | |
| 2013 | Masters of Sex | John Madden | Pilot |
| Side Effects | Steven Soderbergh | ||
| Saving Mr. Banks | John Lee Hancock | ||
| 2014 | The Good Dinosaur[4] | Bob Peterson |
Additional soundtracks [edit]
- 2005: Madagascar (from American Beauty)
- 2007: Sicko (from Little Children, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and In the Bedroom)
- 2009: Bigfoot (Trailer) (from WALL-E)
- 2010: Alice in Wonderland (Teaser Trailer) (from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events)
Newman has composed music for television as well, including theme music for the series Boston Public and the miniseries Angels in America. His theme music for the television show Six Feet Under won two Grammy Awards in 2003, for Best Instrumental Composition as well as Best Instrumental Arrangement. Newman also wrote a commissioned concert work for orchestra, Reach Forth Our Hands, for the 1996 Cleveland Bicentennial. The Los Angeles Philharmonic has commissioned a new work by Newman to be performed by the Kronos Quartet and Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, during the orchestra's 2009-2010 season.
Awards & nominations [edit]
Newman has received a total of eleven Academy Award nominations, however as of 2012 he has yet to win the award, making him the most nominated living composer to have never won an Oscar, and behind Alex North, who received 14 unsuccessful nominations. Ten of his nominations are in the Best Original Score category, while one is for Best Original Song.
His first major successes for which he was recognised, came in 1994, when he earned two Academy Award nominations for his scores to Little Women and The Shawshank Redemption; he was the only double-nominee that year, although he lost to Hans Zimmer for The Lion King.
He received his third Academy Award nomination in 1996 for the score to Diane Keaton's comedy Unstrung Heroes, but again lost, this time to Alan Menken for Pocahontas.
He has also received three Golden Globe nominations including one for Best Original Score for 1999's American Beauty and two for Best Original Song, as well as nine Grammy nominations and five wins.
American Film Institute [edit]
Newman's scores for American Beauty and The Shawshank Redemption were nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.
References [edit]
- ^ "Richard Kirk Award: Thomas Newman Fulfills the Promise of His Legacy". bmi.com. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
- ^ Burlingame, Jon (January 20, 2000). "Spotlight: Thomas Newman". Variety. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ "Thomas Newman to compose Skyfall score". MI6-HQ.com. 04-01-12.
- ^ Barcomb, James (March 14, 2013). "Film composer Thomas Newman discusses “The Art of Film Scoring”". The Dolphin. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
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