James Roy Horner was born on 14 August 1953, in Los Angeles, California, USA of Jewish descent, and was an orchestrator, composer and conductor, responsible for creating the orchestral scores for high grossing and award winning movies like “Avatar” and “Titanic”. He was well known for his use of Celtic music and his various achievements throughout his career raised his net worth to where it was before his death.
How rich was James Horner? As of early-2016, sources estimate that his net worth was at $15 million, mostly earned through a successful career as an orchestral composer in the movie industry. Horner worked with a lot of big names and famous celebrities like James Cameron, Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, Russell Crowe and Celine Dion. He also owned several small planes as he loved to fly.
James Horner Net Worth $15 Million
James was born into a family that mostly worked in the film industry. His father was a set designer and his brother would eventually become a writer and filmmaker. At the young age of five, Horner’s interest in music would develop as he started playing the piano. He attended various music schools like the Royal College of Music and then Verde Valley School. He graduated with a degree in music from the University of Southern California and then earned his masters and doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). James started out working with the American Film Institute in the 1970s while teaching at UCLA.
Eventually, Horner moved to film scoring where he would work on films like “Battle with the Stars” and “The Lady in Red”. His breakthrough film would be “Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan” – ironically, he was hired because the studio couldn’t afford the original composer, and this movie would be responsible for putting James’ name on the main list of top composers in the industry. Horner started to work on other films like “Cocoon” in which he developed a partnership with Ron Howard. He also worked in the film “Aliens”. His net worth was growing.
He received his first Academy Award nomination for his work in the film “An American Tail”. In the late-80s up to the 90s, James continued his work, becoming a part of other popular films like “Casper” and “Jumanji”. He would receive recognition and acclaim for his work in the movies “Braveheart” and “Apollo 13”, but would have his best work by then in “Titanic”, a film that grossed over $2 billion. For his work in “Titanic” Horner won an Academy Award, three Grammys and two Golden Globes, and his net worth at this point had risen astronomically.
After “Titanic”, James worked on films like “The Perfect Storm”, “A Beautiful Mind”, and “Bicentennial Man”. According to him, the biggest project he worked on was the 2009 film “Avatar”, wherein he spent two years without taking any other jobs for the project. “Avatar” would go on to win numerous awards, including breaking the record for highest grossing film, passing another James Cameron and James Horner film “Titanic”.
After “Avatar”, Horner worked on the 2010 version of “Karate Kid”, and later “Amazing Spider-Man”. He was also working on “Southpaw” before his untimely death.
In his personal life, James is survived by his wife Sarah and two daughters. He was an avid fan of airplanes and loved to pilot the small aircrafts that he owned. By June-2015, it was reported that his plane crashed into the Los Padres National Forest and later autopsies confirmed that it was Horner. Witness accounts and investigations stated that he was the only person on board the aircraft. His funeral was attended by many celebrities who he worked with throughout his life.
