‘Star Wars’ Alumni John Williams and Bob Iger Made Honorary Knights by Queen Elizabeth II Shortly Before Her Passing
Shortly before passing away, Her Majesty The Queen made honorary knights of John Williams, who has been with the Star Wars franchise since the very beginning, and Bob Iger, who acquired the franchise as part of his Lucasfilm purchase during his tenure at Disney.
Per The Daily Mail, it was learned that Queen Elizabeth II approved the honors of knighthood to both Williams and Iger some time before she recently passed away at the age of 96. Given that true knighthood is officially reserved for British citizens, neither Williams nor Iger will be able to officially carry the title of “Sir”. Williams and Iger join a list of Americans made honorary knights by the Queen that include the likes of Steven Spielberg, Angelina Jolie, and the late Bob Hope.
Williams has been an instrumental part of the Star Wars franchise, with creator George Lucas citing him as “the special sauce” that helped make the films come together. Originally selected to compose for A New Hope due to his successful work with scoring science fiction television series such as Lost in Space and Land of the Giants and blockbuster films like Jaws, Williams was invited back to compose The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith by Lucas, and enlisted to compose The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker by Disney, who also recruited him to compose additional themes for the film Solo: A Star Wars Story, the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge theme park, and the Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi streaming series for Disney Plus. Williams has stated that he has retired from scoring complete soundtracks after this year’s The Fabelmans and next year’s Indiana Jones 5, but remains open toward the possibility of composing additional music.
Iger’s claim to fame is managing to completely reinvent the Disney enterprise following the tenure of Michael Eisner, who initially managed to save the company from bankruptcy and turn it into an entertainment empire. Under Iger’s watch, the then-stagnant company managed to become the dominant force in Hollywood, while their theme parks experienced a period of renaissance and expansion. The film side experienced rapid expansion as Iger made a series of crucial acquisitions, including Pixar in 2006, Marvel Studios in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012, and Twentieth Century Fox (now Twentieth Century Studios) in 2019, all of which have provided hit movies to the new conglomerate. The parks saw the addition of Shanghai Disney Resort and a number of themed land expansions in existing parks based on Disney-owned IP, including the aforementioned Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in both Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Disney World. Iger has formally retired from the company after a two-year transition period to assist his successor, Bob Chapek, with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
