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Star Wars Composer John Williams to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

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Los Angeles Philharmonic's Walt Disney Concert Hall Opening Night Gala - Performance
Composer John Williams waves to the audience at Los Angeles Philharmonic's Walt Disney Concert Hall Opening Night Gala in Los Angeles, on Sept. 30, 2014.Mathew Imaging—Getty Images
By Tara John

John Williams will be the first composer to receive the American Film Institute’s history highest honor: the group’s Life Achievement Award.

In addition to composing the music for Star Wars, the 88-year-old has created the soundtracks to E.T., Jaws and the Indiana Jones films.

“John Williams has written the soundtrack to our lives,” says Howard Stringer, chairman of the institute’s board of trustees, in a statement. “Note by note, through chord and chorus, his genius for marrying music with movies has elevated the art form to symphonic levels and inspired generations of audiences to be enriched by the magic of the movies.”

The institute has typically awarded actors and directors, including Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Taylor and Martin Scorcese.

Williams, who is a five-time Oscar winner, will receive the 44th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award on June 9, 2016.

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