Paul Williams (songwriter)

Paul Hamilton Williams (born September 19, 1940 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American musician, songwriter and actor.

As a boy, Williams auditioned for a role in a television series, Circus Boy, which went to another boy, young Micky Dolenz. Ten years later, Williams auditioned for The Monkees, and was again beaten out for a role by Dolenz. There were no hard feelings between the two, and the Monkees later recorded "Someday Man", which Williams cowrote with Roger Nichols.

Williams's songs include hits for Three Dog Night ("An Old Fashioned Love Song", "Family of Man", "Out in the Country"), Helen Reddy ("You and Me Against the World"), and the Carpenters ("Rainy Days and Mondays," "I Won't Last a Day Without You," and "We've Only Just Begun"). He wrote many songs with Kenneth Ascher, including "The Rainbow Connection", featured in The Muppet Movie.

His acting credits include roles in Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Phantom of the Paradise (a retelling of Phantom of the Opera; Williams also wrote the music), Little Enos Burdette in Smokey and the Bandit, and Miguelito Loveless Jr. in The Wild Wild West Revisited.

In 2013, Paul Williams was revealed to be working with French electronic duo Daft Punk on their album Random Access Memories singing the song "Touch" and co-wrote "Beyond".