Thomas Newman is an American film score composer, born in Los Angeles, with a notable family background in music. His father, Alfred Newman, was a renowned film score composer, and Thomas' mother, Martha Louis Montgomery, ensured her sons received a musical education. Thomas' early musical education included violin lessons, and he later attended the University of Southern California and Yale University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1977 and a Master of Music in 1978.
Thomas' career began with composing music for theatrical productions on Broadway, working under the guidance of Stephen Sondheim. His uncle, Lionel Newman, asked him to compose music for the television series "The Paper Chase" (1978-1979, 1986),marking his first credit in television.
In the 1980s, Thomas started working in film, initially as an orchestrator on "Return of the Jedi" (1983),under the direction of John Williams. This led to his first film score composition for the romantic drama "Reckless" (1984). Throughout the decade, Thomas continued to work as a film score composer, but reportedly felt the need to retrain himself for the demanding job.
Thomas received his first Academy Award nominations in 1994 for the film scores of "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Little Women", but lost to Hans Zimmer for "The Lion King". He continued to receive nominations throughout the 1990s and 2000s, including for the film scores of "American Beauty" (1999),which earned him a Grammy and a BAFTA award.
Thomas has maintained a good working relationship with director Sam Mendes, composing scores for many of his films, including "Road to Perdition" (2002),"Finding Nemo" (2003),and "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events". Despite being nominated eight times for an Academy Award, Thomas has yet to win one. He has, however, won five Grammy awards.
In the 2010s, Thomas continued to work on high-profile films, including "Skyfall" (2012) and "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013),earning further Academy Award nominations. As of 2020, Thomas has been nominated 15 times for the Academy Award, making him the most nominated living composer to have never won one, tied with Alex North.
