Hans Zimmer

German-born, London-raised Hans Zimmer began his musical career as a pioneer of the use of digital synthesizers and computer technology. A musical natural who had only two weeks of piano lessons to his credit, Zimmer crafted early work that included commercial jingles and an influential stint as a record producer for such groups as Tangerine Dream and The Buggles. In the early 1980s, he joined with Stanley Myers to form Lillie Yard Studio with the pair collaborating on the soundtracks to such features as Jerzy Skolimowski's "Moonlighting" (1982) and Stephen Frears' "My Beautiful Laundrette" (1985). Since going solo in 1986, Zimmer has scored nearly 100 motion pictures, earning a reputation as one of the medium's best. His numerous credits include the infectious themes in "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), the lilting chimes of "Green Card" (1990) and "The House of the Spirits" (1993), the appropriately unsettling sounds of thrillers like "Pacific Heights" (1990), and the stirring tones of the action films "Broken Arrow" and "The Rock" (both 1996). He also served as music producer for the Oscar-winning score to "The Last Emperor" composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Con Su and David Byrne. After receiving an Academy Award nomination for 1988's "Rain Man", Zimmer took home his own statuette supplementing Elton John's pop score with African-inspired rhythms for Disney's animated blockbuster "The Lion King" (1994). He earned another nomination for his lovely background music to James L Brooks' comedy-drama "As Good As It Gets" (1997), which was completed before he accepted the post of head of the music department at DreamWorks SKG.

With DreamWorks, Zimmer would go on to work on scores for the animated features "The Prince of Egypt" (1998) and "The Road to El Dorado (2000), as well as bring to life the appropriately epic sounds of "Gladiator" (2000, along with Lisa Gerrard). His eerie atmospheric work on the dreamy war epic "The Thin Red Line" (1998) and his electronic-fueled sounds for "Mission: Impossible 2" (2000) were outside of the tutelage of DreamWorks, as was the work he did on two of 2001's most eagerly awaited films, "Hannibal" and "Pearl Harbor". Never at a loss for work, Zimmer continually proved a reliable contributor to film, transcending his electro-pop background with an arsenal of soundscapes and a real talent for using the music to underline the themes of the film, emerging as a modern legend in the field.

• Also Credited As:
  Hans F. Zimmer, Hans Florian Zimmer
• Born:
  Hans Florian Zimmer on September 12, 1957 in Frankfurt, Germany
• Job Titles:
  Composer, Music producer, Songwriter

Family

• Daughter: Zoe Zimmer. Mother, Suzanne Zimmer
• Son: Jake Zimmer. Born Dec. 3, 1997; mother, Suzanne Zimmer

Significant Others

• Wife: Suzanne Zimmer.

Milestones

• 1982 First feature film as co-composer (with Myers), Moonlighting
• 1987 First film as solo composer, Double Exposure
• 1987 Produced the Oscar-winning score to The Last Emperor
• 1988 Earned first Academy Award nomination for Barry Levinson s Rain Man
• 1988 Re-teamed with Myers to write the score for The Nature of the Beast
• 1989 Provided the underscore to Bruce Beresford s Driving Miss Daisy
• 1991 Racked up music credits on such varied films as Backdraft and Thelma and Louise
• 1993 Scored the music for True Romance
• 1994 Won an Oscar for the African-inspired rhythms included on the soundtrack to Disney s animated The Lion King
• 1995 Contributed music to the features Crimson Tide and Something to Talk About
• 1996 Named head of music department at DreamWorks SKG
• 1996 Nominated for third Academy Award for The Preacher s Wife
• 1997 Received Oscar nomination for his score for As Good As It Gets
• 1997 Stage version of The Lion King opened on Broadway
• 1998 Scored the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt and Terrence Malick s WWII drama The Thin Red Line
• 2000 Composed the music for DreamWorks Gladiator ; earned an Oscar nomination for Original Score
• 2000 Wrote the underscore for the DreamWorks animated film The Road to El Dorado
• 2001 Scored the music for the blockbuster sequel Hannibal
• 2002 Composed the music for Black Hawk Down
• 2003 Composed his 100th film, The Last Samurai ; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score
• 2003 Joined last minute to score Somethings Gotta Give
• 2004 Scored the music for Spanglish ; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score
• 2006 Composed the music for Ron Howard s film adaptation, The Da Vinci Code ; earned Grammy and Golden Globe nominations for Best Score
• 2006 Scored the music for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man s Chest ; earned Grammy and Golden Globe nominations for Best Score
• 2008 Composed (with James Newton Howard) the music score for The Dark Knight
• 2008 Composed the music for Frost/Nixon, an adaption of the Peter Morgan play; earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score
• 2009 Composed the music for Guy Ritchie s Sherlock Holmes ; earned an Oscar nomination for Original Score
• Co-founded Lillie Yard Studio with Stanley Myers
• Moved to London as a teenager
• Produced records for Tangerine Dream and The Buggles
• Worked as a record producer and wrote commercial jingles for Air-Edel Associates