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THOMAS NEWMAN (Composer)
moves effortlessly from drama (The Shawshank Redemption, The Horse Whisperer) to sharp satire (The Player) to period classics (Little Women), building on an amazing family tradition in Hollywood. With a varied body of work that has earned the praise of filmmakers ranging from Robert Altman to Gillian Armstrong, Newman has received 3 Oscar nominations for his film work: he was the only double nominee in 1994's Oscar race, receiving two nominations for both Little Women and The Shawshank Redemption, and the following year for his score in Diane Keaton's off-beat comedy Unstrung Heroes.
In 1999, Newman scored two outstanding films: The Green Mile, his second collaboration with director Frank Darabont, and the critically-acclaimed American Beauty, starring Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening.
Since the beginning of sound film, the Newman name has been an integral part of the evolution of film scoring. Thomas is the youngest son of the legendary Alfred Newman, a nine-time Oscar winner and 45-time nominee, who as musical director of 20th Century Fox from the mid-30's to the early '60s was responsible for overseeing or writing all the music created for over 200 Fox films. Alfred's brother Lionel succeeded him as Fox music director, winning an Oscar for Hello, Dolly! and overseeing the studio's scoring into the 1980's. Thomas' cousin, Randy Newman, has also achieved fame in both pop and film scoring (The Natural), and brother David is also a busy film composer (The War Of The Roses).
Newman studied composition and orchestration at USC with professors Frederick Lesemann and noted film composer David Raksin, and privately with composer George Tremblay; he completed his academic work at Yale, studying with Jacob Druckman, Bruce MacCombie and Robert Moore.
Newman's reputation for originality and for intensifying mood and character grew rapidly with such films as Ron Howard's comedy Gung Ho, Desperately Seeking Susan, The Lost Boys, the Best Picture-nominated Scent Of A Woman, The Rapture, the acclaimed cable movie Citizen Cohn and over 20 other major titles.
Newman's recent film scores include: the romantic drama Meet Joe Black, starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins; Up Close And Personal, starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer; Phenomenon, starring John Travolta; American Buffalo, the film version of David Mamet's award winning play starring Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz; Milos Forman's Oscar-nominated drama The People Vs. Larry Flynt; and Oscar & Lucinda, directed by Gillian Armstrong, starring Ralph Fiennes.
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