Paul Williams (songwriter)

Paul Williams
Williams at the 2011 ASCAP concert
Background information
Birth name	Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr.
Born	(1940-09-19) September 19, 1940 (age 76) Omaha, Nebraska United States
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	Folk pop soft rock
Occupation(s)	Musician songwriter actor writer
Instruments	Vocals guitar keyboards
Years active	1960s–present
Labels	A&M Records
Associated acts	The Holy Mackerel The Muppets The Odd Couple The Carpenters Daft Punk
Website	paulwilliamsofficial.com

Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. (born September 19, 1940) is an American composer, singer, songwriter and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song" and "Out in the Country", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World", David Bowie's "Fill Your Heart", and the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays", as well as his contributions to films, such as writing the lyrics to the #1 chart-topping "Evergreen", the love theme from A Star Is Born, starring Barbra Streisand, for which he won a Grammy for Song of the Year and an Academy Award for Best Original Song; and "Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie. He also wrote the lyrics to the opening theme for The Love Boat, with music previously composed by Charles Fox, which was originally sung by Jack Jones, and later, by Dionne Warwick.

He has also had a variety of high-profile acting roles such as Little Enos Burdette in the action-comedy Smokey and the Bandit (1977), and as the villainous Swan in Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974), which Williams also co-scored, receiving an Oscar nomination in the process. He has worked as well in television, theater, and provided voice-overs for animation.