Alan and Marilyn Bergman facts for kids

Alan and Marilyn Bergman in 2002

Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were a famous American songwriting team. They were married from 1958 until Marilyn passed away. Together, they wrote amazing songs for TV shows, movies, and plays.

The Bergmans had a very successful career. They won many awards for their work. These include four Emmys, three Oscars, and two Grammys. One Grammy was for Song of the Year. They were also added to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

About Alan and Marilyn Bergman

Alan Bergman was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1925. He studied music at UCLA. Marilyn Bergman was also born in Brooklyn in 1928. She studied music and English at New York University. Both Alan and Marilyn came from Jewish families.

Alan worked in TV and wrote songs in the early 1950s. A famous songwriter, Johnny Mercer, told Alan to move to Los Angeles. He encouraged Alan to become a full-time songwriter.

Marilyn moved to California and started writing lyrics by chance. She broke her shoulder and could not play the piano. So, she began writing words for songs instead. She also felt she was not good enough to be a concert pianist.

The Bergmans met in Los Angeles in the late 1950s. They both worked with composer Lew Spence. Spence suggested they all work together. Alan and Marilyn got married in 1958. They had a daughter named Julie Bergman Sender. Julie is now a film producer.

Early Songs and Collaborations

With Lew Spence, the Bergmans wrote songs for famous singers. They wrote "Sleep Warm" for Dean Martin in 1958. They also wrote "Nice 'n' Easy" for Frank Sinatra in 1960. In 1961, they wrote their first song for a movie, The Right Approach.

In 1964, the Bergmans wrote songs for their first Broadway musical. It was called Something More! and had music by Sammy Fain.

Their song "In the Heat of the Night" was a big success. They wrote it with music by Quincy Jones for the 1967 film of the same name. This song was a major breakthrough for them. They later worked with Quincy Jones again. They wrote "Someone In the Dark" for Michael Jackson's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album in 1982.

Working with Michel Legrand

The Bergmans started working with French composer Michel Legrand in the late 1960s. They wrote the English words for "The Windmills of Your Mind." This song was in the 1968 movie The Thomas Crown Affair. It won them their first Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1969.

They were nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar two more times. These were for "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" (1969) and "Pieces of Dreams" (1970). They also wrote other songs with Legrand, like "Listen to the Sea" and "Sweet Gingerbread Man."

The Way We Were

The Bergmans worked with Marvin Hamlisch to write "The Way We Were." This hit song was used in the movie of the same name. It is one of the most famous songs in the world.

Hamlisch and the Bergmans won many awards for this song. They received an Academy Award for Best Original Song. They also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Song of the Year. This song is listed among the top "Songs of the Century."

More Oscar Nominations

In 1983, the Bergmans had a big year at the Oscars. Three of the five songs nominated for Best Original Song were theirs! These included "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (with Michel Legrand). They were also nominated for "It Might Be You" and "If We Were in Love."

The next year, they won another Oscar for their work on the film Yentl. They wrote the lyrics for the movie's music. Songs like "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" and "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl were also nominated for Best Original Song.

Later Career and Honors

The Bergmans also wrote "An American Reunion" for Bill Clinton's first presidential inauguration in 1993. They received their last Oscar nominations in the late 1990s. These were for "Moonlight" (1995) and "Love Is Where You Are" (1999).

In 1999, they won their last Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. This was for the song "A Time to Dream." In 2001, the Kennedy Center asked them to write a song cycle. They worked with Cy Coleman on Portraits in Jazz: A Gallery of Songs.

The Bergmans wrote songs for the TV musical Queen of the Stardust Ballroom. This won them another Emmy Award. It later became their second Broadway show, Ballroom, in 1978.

In 2007, Alan Bergman released his first album as a singer. It was called Lyrically, Alan Bergman. He sang songs that he and Marilyn had written. Critics praised his voice, comparing it to famous singers like Frank Sinatra.

Working with Barbra Streisand

The Bergmans had a long working relationship with Barbra Streisand. They wrote songs for her movies Yentl and The Way We Were. They also wrote for her "One Voice" concert in 1987. Marilyn was even an executive producer for that concert.

Their song "Ordinary Miracles" won them a third Emmy Award. This was for Streisand's 1994 concert tour. The Bergmans also helped with Streisand's charity foundation. In 2011, Streisand released an album called What Matters Most to honor the Bergmans. It featured ten of their songs she had not recorded before.

In 2017, the Bergmans worked on a musical called Chasing Mem'ries: A Different Kind of Musical. Marilyn Bergman passed away on January 8, 2022, at age 93.

Awards and Honors

The Bergmans received many awards and special honors. They were added to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980. They later received the Johnny Mercer Award in 1997.

They were given honorary degrees from Berklee College of Music in 1995. That same year, they received a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1996, they got the first Fiorello Lifetime Achievement Award. This was from New York City's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. They were later added to that school's Hall of Fame.

Marilyn Bergman also received special awards. She won the Crystal Award from Women in Film Los Angeles in 1986. In 1996, the French Ministry of Culture made her an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

The Bergmans also held important positions in music organizations. Marilyn was the president and chairman of American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for 15 years. She was the first woman to serve on ASCAP's board of directors. Marilyn also led CISAC, a group for performing rights societies. Alan served on boards for The Johnny Mercer Foundation and The Jazz Bakery.

Notable works

Notable lyrics and compositions by the Bergmans include:

• "The Windmills of Your Mind" (music by Michel Legrand) for 1968 movie The Thomas Crown Affair
• "The Way We Were" (music by Marvin Hamlisch) for 1973 movie The Way We Were
• "Sleep Warm" (music by Lew Spence) for Dean Martin's 1958 album Sleep Warm
• "Yellow Bird" written for Norman Luboff's arrangement of the creole song "Choucoune"
• "Nice 'n' Easy" (music by Lew Spence) for Frank Sinatra's 1960 album Nice 'n' Easy
• "Champion the Wonder Horse" (music by Norman Luboff), for The Adventures of Champion ; also recorded by Frankie Laine.
• "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" (music by Neil Diamond), originally written for the All That Glitters but unused, was expanded by Diamond and released on his 1977 album I'm Glad You're Here with Me Tonight. Streisand released a solo rendition on her 1978 album Songbird, and later that year she and Diamond recorded the song as a duet
• "Someone In the Dark" (music by Rod Temperton) for Michael Jackson's soundtrack album for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
• "Soldiers in the Rain" (music by Henry Mancini); sung by Diana Krall on Dave Grusin's 1997 album Two for the Road
• "The Playground" (music by Bill Evans) for Tony Bennett's album The Playground (1998)
• "I Knew I Loved You" (music by Ennio Morricone) recorded by Céline Dion for the Morricone tribute album We All Love Ennio Morricone (2007)

Musicals

• Something More! (1964, composed by Sammy Fain)
• Ballroom (1978, composed by Billy Goldenberg)

Films

• "The Right Approach" (music by Lew Spence) – The Right Approach (1961)
• "In the Heat of the Night" and "Foul Owl on the Prowl" (music by Quincy Jones) – In the Heat of the Night (1967)
• English lyrics for "The Windmills of Your Mind" (music by Michel Legrand) – The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
• "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" (music by Michel Legrand) – The Happy Ending (1969)
• "Pieces of Dreams" (music by Michel Legrand) – Pieces of Dreams (1970)
• "Listen to the Sea" (music by Michel Legrand) – Ice Station Zebra (1968)
• "Tomorrow Is My Friend" and "There's Enough to go Around" Gaily, Gaily (1969)
• "Nobody Knows" and "Sweet Gingerbread Man" (music by Michel Legrand) – The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970)
• "All His Children" (music by Henry Mancini) – Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
• "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey" (music by Maurice Jarre) – The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
• "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" (music by Johnny Mandel) – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973)
• "The Way We Were" (music by Marvin Hamlisch) – The Way We Were (1973)
• "Sybil" (music by Leonard Rosenman) – Sybil (1976)
• "The Last Time I Felt Like This" (music by Marvin Hamlisch) – Same Time, Next Year (1978)
• "I'll Never Say Goodbye" (music by David Shire) – The Promise (1979)
• "Where Do You Catch the Bus for Tomorrow?" (music by Henry Mancini) - A Change of Seasons (1980)
• "It Might Be You" (music by Dave Grusin) – Tootsie (1982)
• "If We Were In Love" (music by John Williams) – Yes, Giorgio (1982)
• "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (music by Michel Legrand) – Best Friends (1982)
• Lyrics for Michel Legrand's score for Yentl (1983)
• "Never Say Never Again" – (music by Michel Legrand) − Never Say Never Again (1983)
• "The Girl Who Used to Be Me" (music by Marvin Hamlisch) – Shirley Valentine (1989)
• "Moonlight" (music by John Williams) – Sabrina (1995)
• "Love Is Where You Are" (music by Mark Isham) – At First Sight (1999)

Television

• With Dave Grusin, the Bergmans wrote the theme songs for the television series The Sandy Duncan Show (1972), Maude ("And Then There's Maude", 1972), and Good Times (1974). The Bergmans also wrote "Worlds" for the series Bracken's World (1969), and the theme for Alice ("There's a New Girl In Town", 1976), with David Shire.
• Lyrics for Billy Goldenberg's score for Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (1975)
• "Ordinary Miracles" for Barbra Streisand's HBO concert special (1994)
• "A Ticket to Dream" (music by Marvin Hamlisch) for the AFI 100 Years 100 Movies Special (1999)

See also

In Spanish: Alan y Marilyn Bergman para niños