Make a ‘Rainbow Connection’ with this songwriter, actor at Lexington Comic Con

If there are certain songwriters whose work has helped define a decade or a generation, Paul Williams is one of those artists.

In fact, you would have to make that “decades” and “generations” to be more accurate.

The songwriter and composer has written or co-written songs for notable ‘70s artists like Three Dog Night (“An Old Fashioned Love Song,” “Out in the Country”) and The Carpenters (“We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Rainy Days and Mondays”). He wrote lyrics to theme song and chart-topping single “Evergreen” from the original “A Star is Born” starring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, which earned him both an Academy Award and a Grammy for Song of the Year in 1978. He has written movie scores for films like 1976’s “Bugsy Malone” starring a young Jodie Foster and Scott Baio, and earned an Oscar nomination for his work as a composer, singer and star of Brian De Palma’s “Phantom of the Paradise” (1974).

For Williams, who jokes that he is a master of penning “co-dependent anthems,” he feels like part of his appeal as a songwriter is what he considers the “accidental ingredient” of authenticity.

“(I’m) writing in a way that’s a way like I speak,” he said. “I think I write in American instead of English… if it’s clever, it’s accidental.”

How Paul Williams wrote the song, ‘Rainbow Connection’

Of course, one of the biggest songs that is synonymous with Williams didn’t come courtesy of any human character. Along with “A Star is Born” collaborator Kenneth Ascher, Williams wrote the music and lyrics for “Rainbow Connection,” sung by Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson) in the 1979 film “The Muppet Movie,” which has become an evergreen (no pun intended) touchstone that has found its way into both the Library of Congress and the National Recording Registry.

When writing the song, Williams, who referred to Kermit as “the Jimmy Stewart of the amphibious acting,” did what he has done for many shows he’s written for in the past.

“If I’m writing for a film or I’m writing for a stage show, the script is the bible,” he said. “Lilly pad, swamp, inner life, air, light, rain…boom, I took it to a place that wrote that first song (of the movie).”

Paul Williams works with today’s musical artists

At 85 years old, Williams is still crafting songs and continues to be tapped to collaborate with various musical artists, whether it is dance-pop duo Daft Punk for their song “Touch” off of their final Grammy-winning Album of the Year “Random Access Memories” or working with current artists like outlaw country songwriter Shooter Jennings or indie rock group Portugal. The Man. He currently serves as president of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and while he doesn’t use his position to leverage work with particular artists, he said creativity in songwriting is alive and well and feels privileged when it he asked to contribute from the current generation.

“I don’t call anybody to say I want to write with you… There are people that like what I do and they don’t let my age scare them away,” he said. “Most people my age are on their front porch saying, ‘get off my lawn.’ That’s not who I am.”

Paul Williams TV, movie roles

When Williams returns to Lexington Comic Con, he will get approached by passionate fans for much more than his musical contributions. The entire time he was making his mark in popular music, he was also acting in a variety of TV and film projects, most notably appearing in all three “Smokey and the Bandit” movies as Little Enos Burdette, donning primate prosthetics as Virgil in “Battle for the Planet of the Apes” and voicing the Penguin in the beloved “Batman: The Animated Series” cartoon from the 1990s.

Williams, who is also in his 36th year of sobriety, is loving the interactions and appreciation he gets from multiple generations in this unexpected phase of his career (he donates any money earned at conventions to charity for recovery from substance abuse). He said he loves getting to greet fans while being a fan himself of many fellow celebrity guests, and the fact he is still around to make these connections is not lost on him.

“The over-under on me was about 54 as to how long I was going to live, and then all of a sudden, I got all of these extra innings,” he said. “I get infused with a lot of gratitude for every breath.”

Lexington Comic and Toy Convention 2026

When: 6-10 p.m. Thursday, March 26; Noon-8 p.m. Friday, March 27; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, March 28; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, March 29.

Where: Central Bank Center, 430 W. Vine St.

Parking: Credit card only at Rupp Arena parking lot; Event organizers say there are more than 10,000 parking spaces available within a 10-minute walk of Central Bank Center

Tickets: $25-$250; Kids 10 and under are free for all days

Online: lexingtoncomiccon.com