BERGMAN, ALAN

BERGMAN, ALAN (1925– ) and MARILYN (1929– ), U.S. songwriters, composers. Alan and Marilyn Bergman (Katz), a prolific husband-and-wife team, are best known for their many film score classics such as the Academy Award-winning songs "The Way We Were" (The Way We Were (1973)) and "The Windmills of Your Mind" (The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)). The couple received the Academy Award for Best Musical Score for Yentl (1983), writing the lyrics to accompany Michel Legrand's music for the film. They were nominated for 16 other Academy Awards.

Alan Bergman was educated at the University of California-Los Angeles and received a B.A. from the University of North Carolina. His career began during wwii when he wrote and directed Special Services shows for American troops. After the war, he directed television shows for cbs from 1945 until 1953. He joined ascap in 1955 and began writing songs for television, revues, and nightclub acts, for performers such as Fred Astaire and Marge and Gower Champion. His notable stage scores include That's Life, Ice Capades of 1957, and Something More!, while his albums include Never Be Afraid and Aesop's Fables. He married his wife and songwriting partner, Marilyn, in 1958. Marilyn attended New York University. She joined ascap in 1953, two years before her husband. She also wrote songs for revues and nightclub performances and is credited with several television theme songs. Some of the couple's other most memorable songs include "Nice 'n' Easy," "Yellow Bird," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "It Might Be You," "Moonlight," "Cheatin' Billy," "Don't Know Where I'm Goin'," "I've Never Left Your Arms," "That Face," "Baby, the Ball Is Over," "Ol' MacDonald," "Sentimental Baby," "If I Were in Love," and "That's Him Over There."

[Walter Driver (2^nd ed.)]