| Born: | October 20, 1955 in Los Angeles, California, America |  |
| Died: | ||
| Nationality: | American | |
| Era: | Twentieth Century | |
| Main genre: | Film Music | |
| Main works: |
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| Brief biography: | Thomas Newman is the youngest son of the legendary Alfred Newman, the nephew of the equally legendary Lionel Newman, cousin of singer/songwriter and film composer Randy Newman, and brother of film composer David Newman. Newman studied composition and orchestration at USC with professors Frederick Lesemann and noted film composer David Raksin, and privately with George Tremblay; he completed his academic work at Yale, studying with Jacob Druckman, Bruce MacCombie and Robert Moore. Stephen Sondheim, however, was Newman's mentor and championed one of Newman's earliest works, a musical theatre piece entitled Three Mean Fairy Tales. Since the 1980s, Newman has worked primarily in film and television, and his filmography includes over 50 movies. He has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score four times, for his scores to American Beauty, The Shawshank Redemption, Little Women and Unstrung Heroes. | |