Alfred Newman—man, talk about a legend in the film music game. This guy basically set the bar for what a movie score should sound like. He started out as a little music whiz kid, and before you knew it, he was the go-to composer in Hollywood. Nine Oscars and 45 nominations? That’s bonkers. The Newman family basically owns the Academy’s music categories at this point. Their collective nominations? Ninety-two. That’s not just impressive, that’s “maybe we should rename the award” level. Newman’s fingerprints are all over classic cinema. His resume is wild—over 200 films, and it’s a real “who’s who” of old-school Hollywood. All About Eve, Anastasia, Wuthering Heights, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Mark of Zorro, How Green Was My Valley, The Song of Bernadette, Captain from Castile, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, The Diary of Anne Frank, How the West Was Won, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and Airport. So many of those got Oscar love, too. And don’t even get me started on that 20th Century Fox fanfare. If you've ever watched a movie with that logo, you’ve heard Newman’s work. It’s basically the soundtrack of “going to the movies” for generations. But he didn’t just write—he conducted and arranged for legends like Gershwin, Chaplin, and Berlin. Plus, he brought a bunch of Broadway’s magic to Hollywood, since he spent a decade on the stage before hitting the silver screen. One of the real trailblazers of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Newman wasn’t just a composer—he was the boss behind the music that made movies unforgettable.
referencennTalk about a family tree just dripping with musical genius—this clan is basically Hollywood’s own composer dynasty. At the top, you’ve got the father, who somehow managed to raise not just one, but three powerhouse composers: Thomas, Maria, and David. Oh, and don’t forget Tim, who went the director route, because why not? Talent just runs wild here. The man’s brothers, Emil and Lionel, were deep in the composing game, too. It doesn’t stop—Julia, the next generation, is carrying the torch as a composer herself, and then there’s Randy, the nephew everyone knows for those catchy, quirky tunes. Even Joey, the great-nephew, jumped on the composer bandwagon. It’s like every family gathering must be a wild jam session, or just everyone quietly judging each other’s chord progressions. Seriously, if you ever wondered where all those epic film scores came from, you can probably thank this one wild, musically obsessed family.
So, Hollywood. Everyone’s got their thing going on, right? The glitz, the grind, and of course, the soundtrack to match. Out here, it’s not just about who you know, but what you know—especially when it comes to the business side and the music scene. Some folks schmooze at parties, others hustle behind closed doors, but trust me, everybody’s working some angle. The city’s got this weird energy, too; you can almost taste the ambition in the air. Sometimes it’s cutthroat, sometimes it’s just flat-out weird, but there’s always something happening. One minute you’re rubbing elbows with a producer who dropped a hit single back in the day, next minute you’re watching a deal go sideways over sushi. It’s wild. People here live and breathe this stuff, whether they’re chasing fame, fortune, or just the next good story. At the end of the day, if you can keep up, you’re in. If not, well…Hollywood moves fast.
March 17, 1900
5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Yes, Tim Newman
125 years old