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John Williams Documentary to Premiere Wednesday at AFI Fest: ‘When You Talk to Him About Music, He Will Talk to You About Anything,’ Director Says
Composer John Williams never wanted a film made about him, but the 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars' composer finally relented, and the film debuts Wednesday.
For years, the five-time Oscar winner consistently turned down every offer; he even declined an invitation from the Motion Picture Academy — which has nominated him a record 54 times — to do a career interview for its oral history program. The composer has often given interviews over the years but, until now, has rarely discussed his youth (playing trombone at North Hollywood High), his TV career (scoring shows like “Lost in Space”), his first wife Barbara Ruick (whose tragic death at 41 left Williams with three young children to raise) or the kerfuffle when ill-mannered Boston musicians led to his (temporary) resignation from the Pops in 1984. Bouzereau captured Williams relaxing on the golf course; making his annual pilgrimage to Tanglewood, Mass., summer home of the Boston Symphony; being greeted by thousands of light-sabers at the Hollywood Bowl; and the dedication, earlier this year, of a Sony music building newly named after him (drawing laughter from the crowd when he remembered first visiting it in 1940, saying “I looked around at the room and thought to myself, someday this will all be mine!”).
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