Harry Gregson-Williams is an award-winning film composer from Great Britain who began making his mark on the Hollywood film industry around the turn of the century. Born on December 13, 1961, in England, he began his career as a music teacher, working at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, among other schools. While he began working as a film composer in the early '90s, his big break came when he was taken under the wings of Oscar-winning film composer
Hans Zimmer during the mid-'90s. He worked on the soundtracks of
Zimmer-scored films including
Crimson Tide (1995), Two Deaths (1995),
Broken Arrow (1996),
Muppet Treasure Island (1996),
The Rock (1996), The Fan (1996),
The Peacemaker (1997),
The Borrowers (1997), and
As Good as It Gets (1997). He proceeded to collaborate also with
Trevor Rabin (
Enemy of the State, 1998;
Armageddon, 1998) and
John Powell (
Antz, 1998;
Chicken Run, 2000;
Shrek, 2001). Meanwhile,
Gregson-Williams began taking the lead on the soundtracks of children's films including
The Tigger Movie (2000),
Spy Kids (2001), and
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) as well as action-adventure films including
Phone Booth (2002),
Spy Game (2002), and
The Rundown (2003). By mid-decade, he was working on A-list films including
Team America: World Police (2004),
Shrek 2 (2004),
Man on Fire (2004),
Bridget Jones 2 (2004), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005),
Kingdom of Heaven (2005),
Gone Baby Gone (2007), and
Shrek the Third (2007). In addition, he composed music for the video game series Metal Gear Solid (in collaboration with
Hideo Kojima) and Call of Duty.
Gregson-Williams has won ASCAP, Annie, BMI, Hollywood Film Festival, and Satellite awards and has been nominated for a range of others including Golden Globe and Grammy awards. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide