Paul Williams (songwriter)

Williams was born in Omaha, Nebraska,^[6] the son of Paul Hamilton Williams Sr., an architectural engineer, and his wife, Bertha Mae (née Burnside), a homemaker.^[1]

One of his brothers was John J. Williams, a NASA rocket scientist, who participated in the Mercury and Apollo programs and was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, their highest honor, in 1969.^[7] His other brother was Mentor Williams, also a songwriter, who wrote Dobie Gray's 1973 hit "Drift Away".^[8]

Williams began his professional songwriting career with Biff Rose in Los Angeles.^[9] The two men first met while working together on a television comedy show.^[9] Together, they wrote the song "Fill Your Heart",^[9] which was recorded by Rose on his first album, The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side (1968). Tiny Tim covered it as the B-side of his hit "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" (1968). In 1969 he formed a studio band called The Holy Mackerel, which produced and released an LP with songs like "Scorpio Red", which however failed to chart.^[9] David Bowie recorded a version of the song^[9] on his album Hunky Dory (1971). Rose and Williams wrote "I'll Walk Away" (recorded by Rose on his third, eponymous album). Rose was instrumental in getting Williams his break with A&M Records which resulted in Williams working with songwriter Roger Nichols. Williams and Nichols were responsible for a number of successful pop hits from the 1970s, including several hits for Three Dog Night ("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", originally a song for a Crocker National Bank television commercial featuring newlyweds, and which has since become a cover-band standard and de rigueur for weddings throughout North America.^[10]

An early collaboration with Roger Nichols, "Someday Man", was covered by the Monkees (a group for which he unsuccessfully auditioned).^[11]

A frequent co-writer of Williams' was musician Kenneth Ascher. Their songs together included "Rainbow Connection", sung by Jim Henson (as Kermit the Frog) in The Muppet Movie (1979).^[12]

Williams composed the song, "When the River Meets the Sea" sung by John Denver in the movie, John Denver & the Muppets A Christmas Together (1979).

Williams worked on the music for a number of films, including writing and singing on Phantom of the Paradise (1974) in which he starred and earned an Oscar nomination for the music, and Bugsy Malone (1976). Williams wrote and sang the song "Where Do I Go from Here", which was used in the end credits of the film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. He contributed lyrics to the Cinderella Liberty song "You're So Nice to Be Around" with music by John Williams, and it earned them an Oscar nomination. Along with Ascher and Rupert Holmes, he wrote the music and lyrics to A Star Is Born (also 1976), with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. The love ballad, "Evergreen", (lyrics by Paul Williams, melody by Barbra Streisand) won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy for Song of the Year. He has been nominated on other occasions for an Academy Award^[13] and several Golden Globe Awards.^[14]

In 1987 he wrote the songs performed by Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty in the film Ishtar.^[15]

He wrote the music for a musical production of Happy Days that debuted in 2007. Williams wrote and sang "What Would They Say", the theme song from the made-for-television film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976).^[16]

Williams wrote music and lyrics of "Silence Is Our Song" for Richard Barone's 2010 album Glow,^[17] and collaborated with Scissor Sisters on their second album, Ta-Dah.^[18]

In March 2012, it was announced that Williams had "written a couple of tunes" on Random Access Memories, the album of French electronic duo Daft Punk.^[19] He co-wrote and sang vocals on "Touch" and co-wrote "Beyond". Williams and Nile Rodgers were the only featured artists to speak on behalf of Daft Punk at the 2014 Grammy Awards upon their receipt of the Album of the Year award for Random Access Memories. Williams told an anecdote about his work with Daft Punk: "Back when I was drinking, I would imagine things that weren't there and I'd get frightened. Then I got sober and two robots called and asked me to make an album." He communicated a "message from the robots" to the audience: "As elegant and as classy as the Grammy has ever been is the moment when we saw those wonderful marriages and 'Same Love' is fantastic. It is the height of fairness and love and the power of love for all people at any time in any combination is what [Daft Punk] wanted me to say. Captain Kirk uses the Enterprise. [Daft Punk] sail on a ship called Generosity. They are generous in spirit ... This is a labor of love and we are all so grateful."^[20]

Williams is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame,^[21] and his songs have been performed by both pop and country music artists. In April 2009, Williams was elected president and chairman of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).^[22]

In September 2015, Williams, along with bass player Kasim Sulton, led a global virtual songwriting collaboration at Hookist.com.^[23] The mission was to write the first crowd-sourced anthem to be performed at FacingAddiction.org's concert and rally on The National Mall on October 4, 2015, headlined by Steven Tyler, Sheryl Crow, and Joe Walsh among others.^[24] The theme of the song was "Celebrate Recovery" and the goal was to reduce the stigma associated with addiction. Williams, Sulton and Dr. Mehmet Oz opened the show and led 10,000 people in a singalong of "Voice of Change" at the base of the Washington Monument.^[25] Sulton led a singalong of the song on The Dr. Oz Show which went viral.^[26]

On April 12th through 19th 2025, he performed the song, Rainbow Connection along with Portugal. The Man and Weird Al Yankovic in Yo Gabba Gabba Coachella.

Although predominantly known for his music, Williams has appeared in films and many television guest spots, such as the Faustian record producer Swan in Brian DePalma's film Phantom of the Paradise (1974)—a rock and roll adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera, Faust, and The Picture of Dorian Gray, for which Williams wrote the songs^[27]—and as Virgil, the genius orangutan in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973).^[28]

On February 9, 1973, Williams made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in which he sang a song in full make-up as Virgil. This was due to filming on the set running late so he stayed in makeup for his scheduled appearance.^[29] He played Miguelito Loveless, Jr. in The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979), a reunion film featuring the original cast of the television series The Wild Wild West. He played himself, singing a song to Felix Unger's daughter Edna, on the television series The Odd Couple in 1974. He made his film debut as Gunther Fry in the satire The Loved One (1965).^[16]

After appearing on The Muppet Show in 1976, Williams worked closely with Jim Henson's Henson Productions on The Muppet Movie, working on the soundtrack and appearing in a cameo part as the piano player in the nightclub where Kermit meets Fozzie Bear. He was also the lyricist for Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.^[30]

Williams was hired by TV producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas to write title tracks for two of their ABC comedies, It Takes Two (1982–1983), on which he sang a duet with Crystal Gayle, and Condo (1983), in which Williams' theme was sung by Drake Frye. Williams composed and performed the theme to the McLean Stevenson sitcom The McLean Stevenson Show in 1976.^[31]

Williams composed, and sang "Flying Dreams" for the animated film The Secret of NIMH.^[32]

Williams has appeared in many minor roles. He provided the voice of the Penguin in Batman: The Animated Series and other series in the DC Animated Universe. He appeared on an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger as a radio DJ covering a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde. He appeared in 2008 in an episode of Nickelodeon's children's show Yo Gabba Gabba! entitled "Weather", where he performed "Rainbow Connection". Williams also appeared in the Dexter's Laboratory episode "Just An Old Fashioned Lab Song" as Professor Williams, Dexter's piano teacher.^[33]

He made numerous television appearances in the 1970s and 1980s, including on The Odd Couple, Hawaii Five-O, Match Game '79, Hollywood Squares, The Love Boat, Police Woman, Fantasy Island, The Hardy Boys, The Fall Guy, The Flip Wilson Special, Gimme a Break!, 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.^[34]

In October 1980, Williams 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. He was a frequent guest and performer on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He appears as the man making the phone call at the beginning of the music video for Hank Williams Jr.'s song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight". In 2014, he appeared on Community^[35] as an illegal textbook dealer who declines to purchase a batch of misprinted chemistry textbooks.^[36] Williams appeared in the 2017 film Baby Driver as the Butcher, an arms dealer.^[37][38]

He portrayed the character of Little Enos Burdette in Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). He had a recurring role as a former lawyer and information source in 2018's season 2 and 2019's season 3 of Goliath.^[39]

In 2024, He appeared in children's television in Yo Gabba Gabbaland in Season 1, and performed the song, Art Party in the episode 2 Make.

Williams has been married three times. He has two children, Sarah and Cole Williams (born 1981),^[40] from his first marriage (1971) to Kate Clinton.^[41] In 1993, he married Hilda Keenan Wynn,^[42] daughter of actor Keenan Wynn. His third wife is writer Mariana Williams.^[43]

An experienced skydiver, Williams completed over 100 jumps in the 1970s.^[44]

In September 2011, director Stephen Kessler's documentary Paul Williams Still Alive premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.^[45]

Williams struggled with alcohol and substance abuse during the 1970s and 1980s.^[16] Sober since 1990, Williams was active in the field of recovery from addictions and became a Certified Drug Rehabilitation Counselor through UCLA.^[39] In 2014, he co-authored Gratitude and Trust: Recovery is Not Just for Addicts, with Tracey Jackson.^[46]

• "Where Do I Go From Here" (composed and performed by Williams for Thunderbolt and Lightfoot) (1974)
• "Evergreen (Love Song from A Star Is Born)" (lyrics written by Williams, Academy and Golden Globe winner for Best Original Song) (1976)
• "What Would They Say?" (for The Boy in the Plastic Bubble starring John Travolta and Diana Hyland) (1976)
• "Rainbow Connection" (co-composed by Williams for The Muppet Movie, 2020 National Recording Registry inductee^[51]) (1979)
• "Flying Dreams" (co-composed with Jerry Goldsmith and performed by Williams for The Secret of N.I.M.H) (1982)
• "When Love is Gone" (co-composed by Williams for The Muppet Christmas Carol) (1992)
• "If We Could Remember" (co-composed with Jerry Goldsmith for The Sum of All Fears) (2002)
• "Still Alive" (composed and performed by Williams for Paul Williams Still Alive) (2011)
• "Old Souls", "The Hell of It" and "The Phantom's Theme (Beauty and the Beast)" composed for The Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
• "I Love You Too Much" and "The Apology Song" (co-composed with Gustavo Santaolalla for The Book of Life) (2014)
• "Time and Tide" (composed by Paul Williams and performed by Dale Menten for Lifeguard) (1976)

"Rainbow Connection" was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2020.^[56]