John Griffin

By Dan Goldwasser

Aug 31 2000

An actor-cum-composer, John Griffin began his film career with a role in Woody Allen's Everybody Says I Love You. However, during his time at Princeton University, he turned toward music, and worked on 14 musical scores for various productions over the next four years. Unfortunately, his big break rode in on a tragedy: the death of John Kennedy Jr. Having submitted his "Streetside Symphony" to the Fox News Channel mere days before the accident, Griffin suddenly found his work being played non-stop over a two-week period. After writing more music for Fox, he ended up being commissioned to write some new music for a British game show that was being redone in America. That show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, ended up becoming one of the most successful prime time shows in recent history, and John's main theme became recognizable overnight.

Most recently, Griffin had the opportunity to write "New Glory: An American Anthem" for President Clinton's entrance at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Televised worldwide, this theme was also picked up for use on CNN's Talkback Live as their new main theme. Ironically, that piece of music was originally written for Fox as a cue they might have used for an obituary piece on Ronald Reagan.

"They're always trying to plan coverage," said Griffin, and after submitting the piece to producers Harry and Linda Bloodworth Thomason, the piece was "lightened up" and used for Clinton's walk.

Currently, John is working with a lyricist on some musical compositions, and an album of Millionaire-inspired songs, which includes his remix of the original British show's theme, has just been released.