With his latest nomination for “Dial of Destiny,” John Williams is now the most-nominated person alive in Oscar history. He has a total of 54 nominations — fifty-freakin-four, people! That’s a whole lot of noms! For those curious, he’s won the award five times — for “Fiddler on the Roof” (1971), “Jaws” (1975), “Star Wars” (1977), “E.T.” (1982), and “Schindler’s List” (1993). Will “Dial of Destiny” be his sixth win? I have my doubts, but you never know.
In addition to that statistic, Williams, at 91 years old, is now the oldest nominee ever. Honorary Oscars have been given to older people, but no one that age has scored a nomination in competing categories. Recently, Williams made some headlines when he announced he would probably be retiring. However, the legendary composer walked that back and announced that he wouldn’t be retiring after all. That’s a great thing — I can’t imagine a world where John Williams isn’t creating memorable new musical scores. So congrats, John Williams! Feel free to take the day off — you’ve earned it.