Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lyricistA lyricist is a writer who specializes in song lyrics, usually paid for by a band to write a custom song. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-songwriter, who also composes the song's melody in addition to the lyrics.- Collaboration...
and
songwriterA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer.-History and background of songwriters:...
.
Born in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, he studied at
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. The university is the oldest in, and flagship of, the University of North Carolina system...
and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a
directorA television director directs the activities involved in making a television episode.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or filmed/taped .In both types of productions, the director is responsible for supervising the placement of cameras ,...
of children's television shows. He and his wife
Marilyn BergmanMarilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University. She and her husband Alan Bergman, whom she married in 1958, were born in the same hospital and raised in the same Brooklyn neighborhood,...
, whom he married in 1958, were born in the same hospital and raised in the same Brooklyn neighborhood, but didn't meet until each had relocated to
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
.
Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lyricistA lyricist is a writer who specializes in song lyrics, usually paid for by a band to write a custom song. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-songwriter, who also composes the song's melody in addition to the lyrics.- Collaboration...
and
songwriterA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer.-History and background of songwriters:...
.
Born in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, he studied at
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. The university is the oldest in, and flagship of, the University of North Carolina system...
and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a
directorA television director directs the activities involved in making a television episode.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or filmed/taped .In both types of productions, the director is responsible for supervising the placement of cameras ,...
of children's television shows. He and his wife
Marilyn BergmanMarilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University. She and her husband Alan Bergman, whom she married in 1958, were born in the same hospital and raised in the same Brooklyn neighborhood,...
, whom he married in 1958, were born in the same hospital and raised in the same Brooklyn neighborhood, but didn't meet until each had relocated to
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
. Together they have written the music and lyrics for numerous television shows, films, and stage musicals.
In 1983, the couple became the first songwriters ever to have written three of the five tunes nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song - "
How Do You Keep the Music Playing?"How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" is a song composed by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman for the 1982 film Best Friends, where it was introduced by Patti Austin and James Ingram...
" from
Best Friends, "
It Might Be You"It Might Be You" is a popular song with music written by Dave Grusin, and lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman. It was performed by singer/songwriter Stephen Bishop in the 1982 film Tootsie, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, and became a popular song at weddings during the...
" from
TootsieTootsie is a 1982 comedy film that tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to go to extreme lengths to land a job...
(with
Dave GrusinDavid Grusin is an American composer, arranger and pianist. Grusin has composed many scores for feature films and television, and he has won numerous awards for his soundtrack work. Although he has worked in many musical styles, Grusin is often thought of as a jazz or smooth jazz artist...
), and "If We Were in Love" from
Yes, Giorgio (with
John WilliamsJohn Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career that spans six decades, Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in Hollywood history, including Star Wars, Superman, Home Alone, the first three Harry Potter movies and all but two of Steven...
).
Bergman was inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of FameThe Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
in 1980 and in 1995 he was awarded an honorary
doctorateA doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries represents the highest level of formal study or research in a given field. In some countries it also refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to practice in a specific profession . The best-known example...
by the
Berklee College of MusicBerklee College of Music, founded in 1945, is a private, degree-granting four year college in Boston, Massachusetts. It has a 2009 fall enrollment of approximately 4,100 students and a 2009 faculty of approximately 500...
. He is a member of the board of The Streisand Foundation.
Bergman and his wife's credits include:
- Lyrics for "The Windmills of Your Mind
"The Windmills of Your Mind" is a song with music by Michel Legrand, as well as Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, and lyrics by the Bergmans, from the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair. Noel Harrison performed the song for the film score. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1968...
," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers"You Don't Bring Me Flowers" is a song that hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1978. It is a song about two lovers who have drifted apart while they "go through the motions" and heartache of life together...
," "Yellow Bird," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?"What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" is a song with lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman and original music written by Michel Legrand for the 1969 film The Happy Ending and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song....
," "How Do You Keep The Music Playing?, "and the score from YentlYentl is a play by Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer.Based on Singer's short story "Yentl the Yeshiva Boy," it centers on a young girl who defies tradition by discussing and debating Jewish law and theology with her rabbi father...
, with music by Michel LegrandMichel Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist of French and Armenian descent....
- Lyrics for "The Way We Were," with music by Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch is an American composer. He is one of only two people to have been awarded an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, a Tony, a Golden Globe and a Pulitzer Prize .-Early life and career:...
- Lyrics and music for Ballroom
Ballroom is a musical with a book by Jerome Kaas and music by Billy Goldenberg and lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman.Based on Kaas' teleplay for the 1975 Emmy Award-winning television drama Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, the plot focuses on lonely widow Bea Asher, who becomes romantically...
," a 1978 BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
musical, "Never Say Never Again" from the filmNever Say Never Again, released in 1983 by Orion Pictures, is a non-EON Productions remake of the 1965 James Bond film, Thunderball. It stars Sean Connery, who gave his seventh and final film performance as British Secret Service agent James Bond 007....
of the same name, the theme songs for the television series The Sandy Duncan ShowFunny Face and The Sandy Duncan Show were two sitcoms aired by CBS starring Sandy Duncan as part of its 1971 and 1972 fall lineups, respectively...
," "MaudeMaude is a half-hour American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978....
, Good TimesGood Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans and produced by Norman Lear...
, and "Moonlight," featured in the film SabrinaSabrina is a 1995 romantic comedy film adapted by Barbara Benedek and David Rayfiel, based on the 1954 screenplay of the same name, which in turn was based upon a play entitled Sabrina Fair....
.
- Lyrics for "I Knew I Loved You," the Quincy-Jones-produced Celine Dion song that was the theme for the movie "Once Upon a Time in America."
- Lyrics for "Something More!
Something More! is a musical with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman. The book by Nate Monaster is based on the 1962 novel Portofino P.T.A. by Gerald Green...
" with music by Sammy FainSammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process...
- Bergman's talents can be seen on Jones's new podcast, "The Quincy Jones Show."
In 2007, Bergman released his first album as a vocalist,
Lyrically, Alan BergmanLyrically, Alan Bergman is the debut album by American lyricist Alan Bergman. It was recorded in 2007, and released later that year by Verve Records. The album consists of songs with lyrics by Bergman and his wife, Marilyn Bergman...
, featuring some of the Bergmans' best known lyrics.
External links
Fresh Airs Terry Gross (8/21/07)