Paul Williams (songwriter)

Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. (born September 19, 1940) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor.

Musical career
Williams is responsible for a number of enduring pop hits from the 1970s, including a number of hits for Three Dog Night (including "An Old Fashioned Love Song", "The Family of Man", and "Out in the Country"), Helen Reddy ("You and Me Against the World"), and The Carpenters, most notably "Rainy Days and Mondays," "I Won't Last a Day Without You," and "We've Only Just Begun", which has since become a cover-band standard and de rigueur for weddings throughout North America. "We've Only Just Begun" was originally a song for Crocker National Bank television commercial featuring newlyweds. An early collaboration with Roger Nichols, "Someday Man", was covered by The Monkees (a group for which he auditioned but was not cast) on a 1969 single, and was the first Monkees' release not published by Screen Gems. Bobby Sherman also sang "Cried Like a Baby". Anne Murray sang "Talk It Over in the Morning". He also wrote the cantata Wings with music by Michel Colombier.

A frequent cowriter of Williams was musician Kenneth Ascher; their songs together included the popular children's favorite "The Rainbow Connection", sung by Kermit the Frog in The Muppet Movie. Williams also collaborated with Biff Rose, notably on the song "Fill Your Heart", originally recorded by Tiny Tim as the B-side of his 1968 hit "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" and subsequently covered by David Bowie on his album Hunky Dory. Most recently, he collaborated with Scissor Sisters on their second album, Ta-Dah. He first was a part of a short lived rock group called "Holy Mackerel".

Williams has worked on the music of a number of films, including writing and singing on Phantom of the Paradise (in which he also starred and earned an Oscar nomination for the music) and Bugsy Malone. He contributed lyrics to the song You're So Nice to Be Around with music by John Williams, and it earned them a Oscar nomination. Along with Kenneth Ascher and Rupert Holmes, they wrote the music and lyrics to A Star Is Born, with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.

He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and his songs have been performed by both pop and country music artists. He has won one Academy Award for best song (Evergreen) from A Star Is Born (co-written by the artist who performed it, Barbra Streisand) and has been nominated for several others.

He wrote the music for a musical production of Happy Days that debuted in 2007.

In April 2009, Williams was elected President and Chairman of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers).

Film and television career
Although predominantly known for his music, Paul Williams is also an actor, appearing in films and many television guest appearances, notably as the Faustian record producer Swan in the cult film Phantom of the Paradise (for which he also wrote the songs), a rock and roll remake of Phantom of the Opera, and as Virgil, the genius orangutan in Battle for the Planet of the Apes. His most recognizable role is "Little Enos Burdette" in Smokey and the Bandit. He also played Miguelito Loveless Jr. in The Wild Wild West Revisited, a reunion movie of the original Wild Wild West, and played himself, singing a song to Felix Unger's daughter Edna, in "The Odd Couple." He made his film debut as "Gunther Fry" in the 1965 satire "The Loved One." He also wrote for Mort Sahl in the 60's.

After appearing on The Muppet Show in 1976, Williams worked closely with Jim Henson's Henson Productions on The Muppet Movie, most specifically on the soundtrack, and even had a cameo in the movie as the piano player in the nightclub where Kermit the Frog meets Fozzie Bear.

Williams has appeared in many small roles. He provided the voice of The Penguin in Batman:The Animated Series. He had a role in Star Trek: Voyager as Prelate Koru of the Qomar Planetary Alliance, a race technologically superior to the Federation but lacking musical ability, and also appeared on an episode of Walker: Texas Ranger as a radio DJ covering a modern day Bonnie and Clyde pursued by Walker. He recently appeared in 2009 in an episode of Nickelodeon's children's show, "Yo Gabba Gabba!", entitled Weather, where he performed "The Rainbow Connection". He has also appeared on Cartoon Network's "Dexter's Laboratory" where he played Professor Williams in an episode entitled "Just An Old Fashioned Lab Song".

He made numerous television appearances in the 1970s and 1980s, including guest appearances on Hawaii Five-O, Match Game '79, The Love Boat, The Hardy Boys, The Odd Couple (as himself), The Muppet Show, The Fall Guy, and The Gong Show. He has also guest-starred in the Babylon 5 episode "Acts of Sacrifice" (Season 2 Episode 12) as Taq, the aide to Correlilmurzon, an alien ambassador whose species finalizes treaties and agreements by having sex with the other signees. In a bit of subtle irony, Williams also appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Virtuoso" as the leader of a planet that has never heard music before. Williams appeared on an episode of Picket Fences as the brother of the just deceased Ginny Weedon (Zelda Rubinstein). While eulogising Ginny, he sings a small part of "the Rainbow Connection". He starred as Ferdinand the Bull in a musical 1/2 hour TV production of the same name written by the Sherman Brothers. In October 1980 he was host of the Mickey Mouse Club 25th Anniversary Special on NBC-TV. He stated that he tried out for the show in early 1955 and was turned down.

Personal life
Williams was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Bertha Mae (née Burnside), a homemaker, and Paul Hamilton Williams, an architectural engineer. He is married to writer Mariana Williams, and has two children, Sarah and Cole. His brothers are the late John Williams, a NASA rocket scientist, and Mentor Williams (fiancé of country legend Lynn Anderson), a successful songwriter in his own right who penned Dobie Gray's 1973 hit, "Drift Away."

Williams has been active in the field of recovery from addictions.

Albums

 * Words and Music by Paul Williams
 * The Holy Mackerel (with The Holy Mackerel, 1969)
 * We've Only Just Begun (by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams)
 * Someday Man (1970)
 * Just an Old Fashioned Love Song (1971)
 * Life Goes On (1972)
 * Here Comes Inspiration (1974)
 * A Little Bit of Love (1974)
 * Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
 * Ordinary Fool (1975)
 * Classics (1977)
 * A Little on the Windy Side (1979)
 * Crazy for Loving You
 * The Muppet Movie (by Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher, 1979)
 * The Best of Paul Williams (1983)

Notable recordings

 * "(Just An) Old Fashioned Love Song" (from "An Old Fashioned Love Song" [1971])
 * "Bitter Honey" (from "The Holy Mackerel" [1969])
 * "Don't Call It Love" (from "Ordinary Fool" [1975])
 * "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" (from "Classics" [1977])
 * "The Family of Man" (from "A Little Bit Of Love" [1974])
 * "Faust" (from "Phantom of the Paradise" [1974])
 * "Flash" (from "Ordinary Fool" [1975])
 * "For Goodness Sake" (from "A Little On The Windy Side" [1979])
 * "The Hell of It" (from "Phantom of the Paradise" [1974])
 * "Here's Another Fine Mess" (from "A Little On The Windy Side" [1979])
 * "If We Could Still Be Friends" (from "Here Comes Inspiration" [1974])
 * "I Won't Last a Day Without You" (from "Life Goes On" [1972])
 * "Let Me Be the One" (from "An Old Fashioned Love Song" [1971])
 * "A Little Bit of Love" (from "A Little Bit Of Love" [1974])
 * "Loneliness" (from "A Little Bit Of Love" [1974])
 * "Ordinary Fool" (from "Ordinary Fool" [1975])
 * "Out in the Country" (from "Life Goes On" [1972])
 * "Rainy Days and Mondays" (from "Here Comes Inspiration" [1974])
 * "Sad Song (That Used to Be Our Song)"
 * "Save Me a Dream" (from "A Little on the Windy Side" [1979])*
 * "Someday Man" (from "Someday Man" [1970])
 * "To Put Up with You" (from "Someday Man" [1970])
 * "Trust" (from "Someday Man" [1970])
 * "Waking Up Alone" (from "Classics" [1977])
 * "We've Only Just Begun" (from "An Old Fashioned Love Song" [1971])
 * "When I Was All Alone" (from "An Old Fashioned Love Song" [1971])
 * "You and Me Against the World"(from "Here Comes Inspiration" [1974])

Notable songs

 * "Evergreen"
 * "Rainy Days and Mondays"
 * "We've Only Just Begun"
 * "Rainbow Connection"
 * "When the River Meets the Sea"
 * "One More Angel"
 * "Moonlight Becomes You"
 * "You're Gone"
 * "Waking Up Alone" (his biggest single as a performer)

TV Themes (lyricist)

 * "The McLean Stevenson Show"
 * "Theme to the Love Boat"
 * "It Takes Two"
 * "Sugar Time!"
 * "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas"

Film music

 * The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, 1972
 * Cinderella Liberty, 1973
 * Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, 1974
 * Phantom of the Paradise, 1974
 * The Day of the Locust, 1975
 * Bugsy Malone, 1975
 * A Star Is Born, 1976
 * Lifeguard, 1976 (theme song "Time and Tide")
 * One on One, 1977
 * ''Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, 1977
 * The End, 1978
 * Agatha, 1979
 * The Muppet Movie, 1979
 * The Secret of NIMH, 1982
 * Ishtar, 1987
 * The Muppet Christmas Carol, 1992
 * A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, 2008

Theatre music

 * Bugsy Malone, 1997
 * Happy Days, 2009

Movies

 * The Loved One, 1965
 * The Chase, 1966
 * Watermelon Man, 1970
 * Battle for the Planet of the Apes, 1973
 * Phantom of the Paradise, 1974
 * Smokey and the Bandit, 1977, as Little Enos, a recurring part
 * The Cheap Detective, 1978
 * The Muppet Movie, 1979
 * Stone Cold Dead, 1979
 * Smokey and the Bandit II, 1980
 * Rooster, 1982
 * Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, 1983
 * The Night They Saved Christmas, 1984, as Ed
 * Frog, 1987
 * The Doors, 1991
 * Headless Body in Topless Bar, 1995
 * The Rules of Attraction, 2002
 * The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, 2004, as Lord Harmony
 * Georgia Rule, 2007

Plays

 * Under the Sycamore Tree
 * Tru on Broadway, 1989

Television

 * Hawaii Five-O
 * B. J. and the Bear
 * Hardy Boys
 * The Love Boat
 * The McLean Stevenson Show
 * Match Game
 * The Gong Show
 * It Takes Two
 * Sugar Time!
 * Baretta
 * Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, produced by Jim Henson
 * "The Muppet Show"
 * "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson"
 * The Brady Bunch Hour
 * The Donny & Marie Show
 * The Mary Tyler Moore Hour
 * "The Odd Couple ~ Season 5 1974-1974" (Episode 101: The Paul Williams Show)
 * "Fantasy Island--Man who wanted to be Don Quixote"
 * "Batman The Animated Series - The Penguin
 * "Babylon 5"
 * Walker: Texas Ranger
 * Star Trek: Voyager
 * Yo Gabba Gabba
 * A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, 2008, as the Head Elf
 * Courage the Cowardly Dog, 2004, as Professor Lame
 * Dexter's Lab, as Professor Williams