Thomas Newman
 | This article possibly contains original research. (September 2009) |
- Not to be confused with Tom Newman
Thomas Newman | |
|---|---|
 Newman at Classic Brit Awards in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas Montgomery Newman |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Website | http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002353/ |
Thomas Montgomery Newman (born October 20, 1955) is an American composer and conductor, best known for his many film scores. He is one of the more respected and recognized composers for modern film and has scored over fifty feature films in a career which spans nearly three decades.
Newman has received a total of ten Academy Award nominations, although as of 2011, he has yet to win the award. He has also won a BAFTA, two Grammys, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe. 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]
Early life
Newman was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest son of Mississippi-born Martha Louise (née Montgomery) and legendary Hollywood composer Alfred Newman, who died in 1970. He is a member of a film-scoring dynasty in Hollywood that includes his father, his uncle Lionel Newman, his brother David Newman, and his cousins Joey Newman and Randy Newman, (who is best known as a singer and songwriter) and his sister Maria Newman.
Film scoring career
Newman was educated at Yale University, and began his film-scoring career in 1984 with his score for Reckless.
His breakthrough 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.
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." 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 recent years with his scores for films such as 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".
During 2008 Newman also scored Towelhead and Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road. He scored Brothers in 2009.
Newman's scores of 2011 include "The Help", "Great Hope Springs", John Madden's The Debt and The Adjustment Bureau.
Film compositions
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Reckless | |
| Revenge of the Nerds | ||
| Grandview, U.S.A. | ||
| 1985 | Desperately Seeking Susan | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande. Album shared with Making Mr. Right |
| Girls Just Want to Have Fun | ||
| The Man With One Red Shoe | ||
| Real Genius | ||
| Amazing Stories | Episode Santa '85. Soundtrack released by Intrada | |
| 1986 | Gung Ho | |
| Jumpin' Jack Flash | Song album with two Newman tracks | |
| 1987 | Light of Day | Song album with one Newman track |
| The Lost Boys | Song album with one Newman track | |
| Less Than Zero | Song album; no Newman score | |
| 1988 | The Prince of Pennsylvania | |
| The Great Outdoors | Song album with one Newman track | |
| 1990 | Men Don't Leave | |
| Heat Wave TV | ||
| Naked Tango | ||
| Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| 1991 | Career Opportunities | Song album with three Newman tracks |
| Deceived | ||
| The Rapture | Song album with ten Newman tracks | |
| The Linguini Incident | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| Fried Green Tomatoes | Soundtrack released by MCA | |
| 1992 | Those Secrets TV | Soundtrack released by Masters Film Music |
| The Player | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| Whispers in the Dark | ||
| Citizen Cohn TV | ||
| Scent of a Woman | Soundtrack released by MCA | |
| 1993 | Flesh and Bone | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande |
| Josh and S.A.M. | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| 1994 | Threesome | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande. Twinned with American Buffalo |
| The Favor | ||
| The Shawshank Redemption | Soundtrack released by Sony BMG | |
| The War | Soundtrack released by MCA | |
| Corrina, Corrina | Song album with one Newman track | |
| Little Women | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical | |
| 1995 | Unstrung Heroes | Soundtrack released by Hollywood Records |
| How to Make an American Quilt | Soundtrack released by MCA | |
| 1996 | Up Close & Personal | Soundtrack released by Hollywood Records |
| Phenomenon | Song album with one Newman track | |
| American Buffalo | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande. Twinned with Threesome | |
| The People vs. Larry Flynt | Soundtrack released by Angel Records | |
| 1997 | Mad City | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande |
| Red Corner | Soundtrack released by EAR | |
| Oscar and Lucinda | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical | |
| 1998 | The Horse Whisperer | Soundtrack released by Hollywood Records |
| Meet Joe Black | Soundtrack released by Universal Records | |
| 1999 | American Beauty | Soundtrack released by DreamWorks |
| The Green Mile | Soundtrack released by Warner Bros. | |
| 2000 | Erin Brockovich | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical |
| Pay It Forward | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| 2001 | In the Bedroom | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande |
| 2002 | The Salton Sea | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande |
| Road to Perdition | Soundtrack released by Decca Records | |
| White Oleander | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| 2003 | Finding Nemo | Soundtrack released by Walt Disney Records |
| Angels in America | Soundtrack released by Nonesuch | |
| 2004 | Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events | Soundtrack released by Sony Classical |
| 2005 | Cinderella Man | Soundtrack released by Decca Records |
| Jarhead | Soundtrack released by Decca Records | |
| 2006 | Little Children | Soundtrack released by Silva Screen Records |
| The Good German | Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| 2007 | Towelhead | Digital only |
| 2008 | WALL-E | Soundtrack released by Walt Disney Records |
| Revolutionary Road | Soundtrack released by Nonesuch | |
| 2009 | Brothers | Digital only |
| 2011 | The Debt | |
| The Adjustment Bureau | Soundtrack released by Relativity Music Group | |
| The Help | Score album released by Varèse Sarabande | |
| The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | ||
| 2012 | Great Hope Springs | |
| Wreck-It Ralph | Soundtrack released by Walt Disney Records |
Additional soundtracks
- 2005: Madagascar (from American Beauty)
- 2007: Sicko (from Little Children, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and In the Bedroom)
- 2010: Alice in Wonderland (Teaser Trailer) (from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events)
Other work
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.
Newman is also responsible for the Coles Supermarket Jingle in the 2010 line of advertisements.[citation needed]
Awards & nominations
Newman has received a total of ten Academy Award nominations, however as of 2010 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. Nine of his nominations are in the Best Original Score category, while one is for Best Original Song.
Regarding his losing Oscar streak, Newman stated, "Losing makes you strong. I like being the underdog".[2]
He has also received one Golden Globe nomination for 1999's American Beauty, but did not win, as well as six Grammy nominations and two wins.
American Film Institute
Newman's scores for American Beauty and The Shawshank Redemption were nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.
References
- ^ "Richard Kirk Award: Thomas Newman Fulfills the Promise of His Legacy". bmi.com. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
- ^ Biography for Thomas Newman at IMDb