More Info on Thomas NewmanSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Original research|date=September 2009: Not to be confused with Tom Newman (musician)|Tom Newman Infobox musical artist | name = Thomas Newman | image = Thomas Newman.jpg | caption = Newman at Classic Brit Awards in 2010 | birth_name = Thomas Montgomery Newman | birth_date = birth date and age|mf=yes|1955|10|20| origin = Los Angeles, California , U.S. | occupation = Film composer|Composer | years_active = | associated_acts = | website = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002353/ | afiawards = Best Original Score 1997 Oscar and Lucinda | baftaawards = BAFTA Award for Best Film Music|Best Film Music 1999 American Beauty (film)|American Beauty | emmyawards = Outstanding Main Title Theme Music 2001 Six Feet Under | grammyawards = Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media|Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media 2001 American Beauty (film)|American Beauty | background=non_performing_personnel
Thomas Montgomery Newman (born October 20, 1955) is an American composer and conducting|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 however won a British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA , two Grammy Award|Grammys and an Emmy Awards|Emmy , and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award|Golden Globe . Newman was honored with the Richard Kirk award at the 2000 Broadcast Music Incorporated|BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.cite web|url= http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233494 |title=Richard Kirk Award: Thomas Newman Fulfills the Promise of His Legacy|publisher=bmi.com|accessdate=2010-11-03
Early life
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 (composer)|David Newman , sister Maria Newman, uncle Lionel Newman and his cousins Joey Newman and Randy Newman (who is also known as a singer and songwriter). Newman was educated at Yale University before starting his career in music.
Film scoring career
His first major score was for the 1984 film Reckless (1984 film)|Reckless . In 1999, Newman composed the score to Sam Mendes ' first feature film American Beauty (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 (film)|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 (film)|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 (film)|Towelhead and Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road and in 2009 he scored Brothers (2009 film)|Brothers . Newman's scores of 2011 include The Help (film)|The Help , The Debt (2011 film)|The Debt , and The Adjustment Bureau .
Newman is to score the 23rd James Bond movie Skyfall , directed by his long time collaborator Sam Mendes , which celebrates the film franchise's 50th anniversary.cite web|title=Thomas Newman to compose Skyfall score|url= http://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php? itemid=9922|publisher=MI6-HQ.com
2005: Madagascar (2005 film)|Madagascar (from American Beauty (film)|American Beauty )
2007: Sicko (from Little Children (film)|Little Children , '' Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (soundtrack)|Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and In the Bedroom )
2010: Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)|Alice in Wonderland (Teaser Trailer) (from '' Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (soundtrack)|Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events '')
Newman has composed music for television as well, including theme music for the television series|series Boston Public and the miniseries Angels in America (miniseries)|Angels in America . His theme music for the television show Six Feet Under (TV series)|Six Feet Under won two Grammy Award s in 2003, for Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition|Best Instrumental Composition as well as Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement|Best Instrumental Arrangement . Newman also wrote a commissioned concert work for orchestra, Reach Forth Our Hands , for the 1996 Cleveland wikt:bicentennial|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|date=October 2010
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.
His first major success's for which he was recognised, came in 1994, when he earned two Academy Award nominations for his scores to Little Women (1994 film)|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 (1995 film)|Pocahontas .
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.
'' Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Nominated
2008
Best Original Song Written Directly for Film (with Peter Gabriel ) for "Down to Earth"
WALL-E
Won
Original Soundtrack of the Year>Best Original Score of the Year
Nominated
American Film Institute
Newman's scores for American Beauty (film)|American Beauty and The Shawshank Redemption were nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores .
References
reflist
External links
http://users.telenet.be/obelisk/tnc Thomas Newman Complete
http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Me-Ni/Newman-Thomas.html Thomas Newman at Filmreference.com
imdb name|2353
http://www.soundtrackguide.net/? content=search& pattern=Newman& column=composer Thomas Newman at Soundtrackguide.net
BAFTA Award for Best Film Music 1980–1999 Persondata | NAME =Newman, Thomas | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =October 20, 1955 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Thomas Category:1955 births Category:American composers Category:American film score composers Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:People from Los Angeles, California
