Just 15 days til Oscar. Here's Cláudio Alves on a 15 time nominee...
When we think of Hollywood royalty, our mind tends to go to those dynasties of movie stars or celebrity directors -- families like the Barrymores, the Hustons, the Fondas or the Coppolas. But not every tinsel town lineage is made up of those who sit on the director's chair or dazzle in front of the cameras.
The Newmans are a good example. With more than 90 collective nominations and many wins, they're the Academy Awards' most beloved family. Alfred Newman is the most Oscar-winning composer of all-time with a total of 43 nods and 9 victories. His son David Newman is a one time nominee and his brother, Lionel Newman, won the Oscar for adapting the score of Hello Dolly! and received 10 additional nominations. Emil Newman, another brother, was nominated for the score of 1941's Sun Valley Serenade. Their nephew, Randy Newman, has amassed 22 nods and 2 statuettes.
And then there's Alfred's other Oscar-beloved son, Thomas Newman…
Like his father before him, Thomas holds an Oscar record, though his is a bit less sweet. As of this day, with a total of 15 nominations, he is the most nominated composer in Oscar history never to have won a single Academy Award. He's tied with Alex North in that regard, though that composer ended up winning an Honorary Oscar before hsi death in 1991. Maybe 15 is the lucky number for Thomas Newman, though the Joker's gloomy cellos are a big threat for the win. One thing's for sure, he should have an Oscar by now.
His first dance with the Academy came in 1994, when he was double nominated for his work in The Shawshank Redemption and Little Women. That year, Hans Zimmer won his first and only Oscar for The Lion King, so it's a bit difficult to argue against Newman's defeat. Five years and two nominations later, the loss of the award became much more perplexing and harder to defend. In 1999, American Beauty was the big winner, conquering five statuettes including for Best Picture. Still, when it came to its iconic score, Hollywood's elite looked the other way. Newman was nominated, but the prize went to John Corigliano for the little-seen Red Violin.
The following years would see Newman amass a slew of other nominations, none of which had hopes of turning into wins. At least, that was the case until 2008, when he was once again double nominated. For Wall-E, the composer received nods for Original Score and Original Song and ended up losing both trophies to A.R. Rahman's work in Slumdog Millionaire. This animated romance of robots in space featured some of Newman's most beguiling compositions, making this double loss particularly painful. Couldn't the Academy have split the honors and given Rahman Best Song and Newman Best Score?
The 2010's solidified the composer as one of the Academy Awards' favorites. In 2012 it was Skyfall, in 2013 Saving Mr. Banks, in 2015 Bridge of Spies and Passengers in 2016. Whenever he's in contention he's usually nominated.
1917 may indeed put an end to Thomas Newman's long wait for Oscar gold, but nothing is certain. Maybe Hildur Guðnadóttir will repeat her Golden Globe victory for Joker? Perhaps its time for John Williams' to win his sixth statue or Alexandre Desplat his third? There could even be an ironic twist of fate with Newman losing to Newman, and Randy nabbing a third statue while his cousin remains Oscarless. Whatever the outcome, we can all agree that, Thomas Newman has earned that often misapplied title of being overdue.