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Fist of all, John Williams’ early life truly did have a large impact on his

contribution to the music world. Williams was born in New York on February 8, 1932.

His parents were Ester and Johnny Williams. Johnny Williams was actually a Jazz

drummer for the CBS radio station thus sparking Williams’ interest of music at a very

young age. In fact, he played multiple instruments such as clarinet, piano, trombone,

trumpet, and even started writing music as a teen. In 1948, Williams and his family

moved to LA. Once Williams finished high school, he attended the University of

California Los Angeles and studied composition with Mario Castelnuoro-Tedesco. Soon

after, Williams enlisted in the Air Force. After his service, Williams attended at The

Juilliard School. He then studied piano under the mentorship of Madame Rosina

Lhevinne. During his time at Juilliard he also performed as a jazz pianist in nightclubs

and recordings. Although Williams did play piano, he ended up converting to composing.

Williams stated, “I heard players like John Browning and Van Cliburn around the place,

who were also students of Rosina’s, and I thought to myself, ‘If that’s the competition, I

think I’d better be a composer!’”

After Williams’ experience at The Juilliard School, he returned to Los Angeles

and began his career in film music with the composers Bernard Herman, Alfred Newman,

and Franz Waxman. At first, Williams was a studio musician that played piano. He

played for films such as Some Like It Hot (59) and To Kill A Mockingbird (62). After

Williams played Peter Gunn’s theme, he began composing his own works for TV such as

Wagon Train, Gilligan’s Island, and Lost In Space. Williams started writing his own film

music for movies with the movies Daddy-O (59), Valley of the Dolls (67), and Fiddler

On the Roof (72), which won him his first Academy Award.