The Hollywood Family With Over 90 Oscar Nominations

Nepo babies have been around as long as there have been artists. The idea of a "legacy" is one we humans simply cannot get away from. As storytelling beings, we will have always constructed — and will continue to construct — broad, historical, intergenerational narratives for ourselves. We can't stop tracing our professional and personal origins among the ancients, and writing their stories directly into our own. We simply shed our fascination with the possibility that talents can be passed from one generation to the next. 

That's certainly the case in Hollywood, a relatively recent art institution in human history, but still rife with its own multigenerational legacies. It's likely you read the headline above and instantly thought of the Coppola clan. The Coppola family has, as of this writing, accrued 12 Oscar wins and 40 nominations between them, and they currently hold the record for the family with the most members to be nominated for Oscars (Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Roman Coppola, Carmine Coppola, David Shire, Talia Shire, Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, James Newton Howard, and Spike Jones — all related by blood or marriage — have all been nominated). Sometimes the kids helped the father. 

And they are, one might find, not the record-holders for netting the most familial Oscar gold. That honor belongs to the Newman family, a family of composers that has been writing music for major Hollywood productions since 1930. Between the six nominated members of the Newman clan — Alfred, Randy, Lionel, Emil, Thomas, and David — there have been twelve wins and a whopping 93 nominations. 

The bulk of the Newman family's nomination went to the patriarch of the family, Alfred Newman, who, in his decades-long career, was nominated for 45 Oscars, winning nine. His first film score was for the (pretty racist) 1930 pre-code comedy "Whoopee!," but he would immediately go on to serve as the musical director for Charlie Chaplin's 1931 classic "City Lights." In 1937, he accrued his first Oscar nomination for John Ford's adventure picture "The Hurricane." His first win was for the 1938 musical "Alexander's Ragtime Band," which also involved adapting multiple songs by Irving Berlin. His other wins came for "Tin Pan Alley" (1940), "The Song of Bernadette" (1943), "Mother Wore Tights" (1947), "With a Song in My Heart" (1952), "Call Me Madam" (1953), "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" (1955), "The King & I" (1956), and "Camelot" (1967). His final score was for the 1970 disaster film "Airport," released the same year he passed away at the age of 69. 

Alfred had two brothers, Emil and Lionel, who also composed music for movies, and who also each received a one Oscar nomination each. Emil for "Sun Valley Serenade" (1941), and Lionel for "Hello, Dolly!" (1969). Alfred also has two sons named David and Thomas, and they are among the prolific movie score writers of their generation. David has scored over 100 movies and TV since the 1980s (he did "Critters"), and got one Oscar nom for his work on 1997's (unjustly stymied by Disney) animated musical "Anastasia." Thomas, too, has scored dozens and dozens of movies, also starting in the '80s (he did "Revenge of the Nerds"), but he has managed to garner 15 Oscar nominations, first in 1994 for "The Shawshank Redemption," and most recently in 2019 for "1917."  

And then, of course, there's Randy.

Randy Newman is the son of Irving Newman, the non-musical brother of Alfred, Emil, and Lionel. After his uncle, Randy is the most nominated member of the family, having been recognized for 22 of his film scores and/or songs. He has won only twice, for the songs he wrote for "Monsters, Inc." in 2001, and "Toy Story 3" in 2010. It was Randy you have to blame for crying and crying and crying at the end of that movie. Randy was first nominated in 1981 for his work on "Ragtime," and most recently got nominated for Noah Baumbach's 2019 drama "Marriage Story." Some of his gentle, piano-bar-ready pop songs haven't won Oscars, but still entered the Hollywood lexicon. His "I Love to See You Smile" from Ron Howard's "Parenthood" got radio play in 1989, and his "You Got a Friend in Me" from 1995's "Toy Story" set the sound for many of the Pixar films to come after. 

Randy is not nearly as prolific a scorer as his cousins David and Thomas, as he also made a living as a pop musician, having released 12 studio albums, beginning in 1968. His 1977 album "Little Criminals" hit #9 on the Billboard charts. He also wrote hits for Peggy Lee, Dusty Springfield, Gene Pitney, Three Dog Night, UB40, and Joe Cocker. 

And the above Newman family members are merely the ones known by the Academy. Maria Newman, the daughter of Alfred, is a celebrated classical violinist and pianist who has been award numerous grants, fellowships, and awards. Lionel's grandson Joey Newman works as a composer as well, having written the music for several smaller indie movies (to date). It seems that the Newman family will not give up their love of music anytime soon.