* En anglais uniquement
Harry Gregson-Williams is an award-winning film composer from the U.K. who began making his mark on the Hollywood film industry around the turn of the century. Known for his work in movie franchises such as Shrek and The Chronicles of Narnia, he's the older brother of film/TV composer
Rupert Gregson-Williams.
Born in England on December 13, 1961,
Gregson-Williams studied voice and piano at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where he later taught music. While he began working as a film composer in the early '90s, his big break came when he was taken under the wing of Oscar-winning film composer
Hans Zimmer during the mid-'90s. He worked on the soundtracks of
Zimmer-scored films including
Crimson Tide (1995), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), The Rock (1996), and As Good as It Gets (1997). He went on to collaborate with
Trevor Rabin (1998's Enemy of the State and
Armageddon) and
John Powell (1998's Antz, 2000's
Chicken Run, 2001's
Shrek) as well.
Meanwhile,
Gregson-Williams began taking the lead on the soundtracks of children's movies like The Tigger Movie (2000) and Spy Kids (2001) as well as action films such as
Phone Booth (2002) and The Rundown (2003). By mid-decade, he was scoring A-list films including
Shrek 2 (2004),
Man on Fire (2004), and
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) which earned him a Grammy nomination for best score. His subsequent work in the 2000s included
Gone Baby Gone (2007),
Shrek the Third (2007),
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), and
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). In addition, he began composing music for the video game franchises Metal Gear Solid and Call of Duty. Highlights of his work in the 2010s include
Shrek Forever After (2010),
Cowboys & Aliens (2011), The Martian (2015), and The Zookeeper's Wife (2017). He also scored the giant shark drama The Meg (2018), the
Denzel Washington-starring action pic The Equalizer 2, and the
Disney nature documentary
Penguins (2019). His score for the 2017 Australian drama Breath received a belated release by Filmtrax in 2020. ~ Marcy Donelson & Jason Birchmeier