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John Williams Faced Dark Days Before ‘Jaws’ and ‘Star Wars’ Changed Everything

A new documentary reveals how Steven Spielberg and George Lucas inspired the movie maestro when he was struggling with grief—and had withdrawn from composing.

He’s become beloved as a pop culture and classical music icon over the course of his 92 years, and his scores for Star Wars, Jaws, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Harry Potter(for starters), are known by heart around the world. The new documentary Music by John Williams, from Five Came Back filmmaker Laurent Bouzereau, explores how a middle-aged artist, struggling to break through in his profession and grappling with being a widower while raising three teenage children, evolved into the most celebrated composer of his age. In March 1974, when the kids were all teenagers, she left home to go on location in Reno, Nevada, to appear in her first onscreen role in over a decade—a scene-stealing part as a feisty cowgirl barkeeper in Robert Altman’s comedy California Split.

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