Twentieth Century Fox renamed its historic Fox Music Building in honor of film and television composer Lionel Newman on Thursday night at a ceremony featuring Steven Spielberg, nephew Randy Newman, and fellow composer John Williams.
Newman’s career with Fox spanned nearly half a century and included more than 200 films. Eleven earned him Academy Award nominations, including “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “Doctor Dolittle,” and Newman finally took home an Oscar in 1970 for the score of “Hello, Dolly!”
“The music at Fox while Lionel was there was better than it was anywhere else,” Randy Newman said. “The music he conducted, I always thought (and so did most of the composers), sounded better than the music he didn’t conduct.”
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Fox Chairman Jim Gianopulos added: “Lionel Newman was an enormous creative force during his long and illustrious career at Fox. He was responsible for some of our studio’s most celebrated scores.”
“On behalf of everyone at Fox, it’s our honor to pay tribute to a music icon who has played such a key role in our company’s history and has such an enduring legacy in our industry.”
Newman died in 1989 at age 73.