What Is Paul Williams' Net Worth?
Paul Williams is an Oscar-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor who has a net worth of $7 million. Paul Williams first became famous as a songwriter of many popular 1970s songs such as "You and Me Against the World," "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays," and "Evergreen." His songs were recorded by such great artists as Three Dog Night, Helen Reddy, The Carpenters, and Barbra Streisand. Paul worked on 1979's "The Muppet Movie," which earned him two Academy Award nominations: Best Music, Original Song for "Rainbow Connection" and Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score. He won an Academy Award for "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" and received nominations for his work on "Cinderella Liberty," "Phantom of the Paradise," and "Bugsy Malone." As an actor, Paul played the character Little Enos in the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies in the 1970s.
Early Life
Paul Williams was born Paul Hamilton Williams Jr. on September 19, 1940, in Omaha, Nebraska. He is the son of Paul Hamilton Williams and Bertha Mae Williams. His father was an architectural engineer, while his mother was primarily a homemaker. Paul grew up with brothers, including John J. Williams, who later went on to become a NASA rocket scientist and earned the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1969. His older brother, Mentor Williams, was a songwriter.
Career
Williams began his professional songwriting career with Bill Rose in Los Angeles. The two had first met while working on a television comedy show. The first song that they wrote together was "Fill Your Heart." Bill Rose then recorded the song for his first album, "The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side." Tiny Tim later covered the song in 1968, and David Bowie made his own version of the song on his 1971 "Honky Dory" album. Rose and Williams continued working together and Paul eventually got his break with A&M Records. Williams began working with songwriter Roger Nichols while working at A&M. As a songwriting team, they wrote a number of successful pop hits from the 1970s, including "You and Me Against the World" recorded by Helen Reddy, "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "We've Only Just Begun" by the Carpenters," and "The Family of Man" and "An Old Fashioned Love Song" by Three Dog Night."
Williams also frequently collaborated with musician Kenneth Ascher. One of their popular songs together was "Rainbow Connection," sung by Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog in "The Muppet Movie" in 1979. Williams worked on a number of other songs for films. He wrote and sang for the "Phantom of the Paradise" film in 1974. He also starred in the film and received an Oscar nomination for the music. In 1976, he 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 also contributed lyrics to the song "You're So Nice to Be Around" in "Cinderella Liberty," which earned him an Oscar nomination. In 1976, he wrote the music and lyrics to "A Star is Born" along with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. The love ballad "Evergreen," which was featured in the film, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and also a Grammy for Song of the Year.
In 1987, Williams wrote the songs performed by Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty in the film "Ishtar." Later, he wrote the music for the musical production of "Happy Days," which debuted in 2007. Paul also wrote music and lyrics of "Silence is Our Song" for Richard Barone's 2010 album "Glow" and later collaborated with Scissor Sisters on their second album, "Ta-Dah." He then worked with Daft Punk on a couple of songs for the 2012 album "Random Access Memories." Williams and Nile Rodgers were the only featured artists to speak on behalf of Daft Punk at the 2014 Grammy Awards when the duo won the Album of the Year Award.
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Williams has also written many other pop and country songs that have been recorded by notable musicians and artists. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and was also elected president of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
Though he is primarily known for his work in music, Williams has also appeared in a number of films and television shows. He appeared in a rock and roll adaptation of "The Phantom of the Opera" called "Phantom of the Paradise." He also appeared in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Battle for the Planet of the Apes," all in the 1970s. He also appeared on "The Muppet Show," "The McClean Stevenson Show," "Batman: The Animated Series," "Walker, Texas Ranger," "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 Gong Show," and "Babylon 5."
In his later film career, he appeared in movies like "Georgia Rule," "Valentine's Day," "The Ghastly Love of Johnny X," "Baby Driver," and "Superman: Red Son." Television appearances include "Fast N' Loud," "Community," and "Goliath."
Personal Life
Williams has been married three times. He married his first wife, Kate Clinton, in 1971. They had two children together, Sarah and Cole. In 1993, he married Hilda Keenan Wynn. They later divorced, and he married his third wife, writer Mariana Williams. In terms of hobbies, Paul is an experienced skydiver. During the 1970s, he completed over 100 jumps.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Williams struggled with alcohol and substance abuse. However, he has been sober since 1990 and has been very active during his sobriety in the area of addiction recovery. He became a Certified Drug Rehabilitation Counselor through the University of California – Los Angeles. In 2014, he wrote a book about his experience and addiction and recovery in general entitled "Gratitude and Trust: Recovery is Not Just for Addicts" along with co-author Tracy Jackson.
