Bergman, Marilyn (1929–)

American lyricist and songwriter. Born Marilyn Keith, Nov 10, 1929, in New York, NY; dau. of Albert A. Katz (in the clothing business); graduate of New York University; m. Alan Bergman (lyricist), Feb 9, 1958; children: Julie (b. 1960).

One half of one the most important wife-husband lyric-writing teams in the history of American popular music, co-wrote lyrics for such films as The Way We Were and Tootsie; had 1st success with lyrics for "Yellow Bird," a West Indian folk tune (1957); co-wrote the lyrics for "Nice and Easy" for Frank Sinatra (1960); co-wrote theme song "The Windmills of Your Mind," for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), which won an Oscar and a Golden Globe; also won Oscars for overall score of Yentl, as well as its 2 lead songs, "The Way He Makes Me Feel" and "Papa Can You Hear Me?" (1984); captured another Oscar, two Grammys, and a Golden Globe for title song of The Way We Were (1973), which became Barbra Streisand's 1st gold single; co-wrote theme songs for several hit tv shows, including "Maude," "Good Times" and "The Sandy Duncan Show,"; won 2 Emmys for the score of Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (1974); elected president of American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP, 1994, 1996); other films include Any Wednesday (lyr., 1966), The Happy Ending (song, 1969), Sometimes a Great Notion (lyr., 1970), Forty Carats (lyr., 1973), Ode to Billy Joe (lyr., 1975), A Star Is Born (lyr., 1976), Same Time Next Year (lyr., 1978), Starting Over (lyr., 1979), Big (song, 1988) and Shirley Valentine (lyr., 1989).

See also Women in World History.