Art Garfunkel facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Art Garfunkel
Garfunkel performing in 2017 at the London Palladium
Background information
Birth name	Arthur Ira Garfunkel
Born	(1941-11-05) November 5, 1941 (age 83) New York City, U.S.
Genres	Folk rock pop
Occupation(s)	Singer actor poet
Years active	1956–present
Labels	Columbia Manhattan Atco
Signature

Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor, and poet. He is most famous for being one half of the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, alongside Paul Simon.

Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel met Simon in elementary school. They started making music together in the 1950s. In the 1960s, Simon & Garfunkel became very successful. They had many hit songs like "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "Scarborough Fair", "The Boxer", and "Bridge over Troubled Water". Their last album in 1970 was also called Bridge over Troubled Water.

Simon & Garfunkel later separated, but they have reunited for special performances over the years. Both artists also had successful solo careers. Art Garfunkel's solo career includes several top hits and awards. He has won eight Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1990, he and Simon were added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine listed him as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Art Garfunkel was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City. His father, Jacob, was a traveling salesman. Art was the middle child, with an older brother, Jules, and a younger brother, Jerome. His family came from Romania. When he was young, Art often sang in his synagogue.

Art's love for singing started when he was very young. He enjoyed the echo in stairwells and would sing songs like "Unchained Melody". His father bought him a wire recorder. Art would spend hours recording his singing, listening back to improve.

At his bar mitzvah in 1954, Garfunkel sang for over four hours. As a teenager, he loved basketball. He practiced shooting foul shots for hours, even when he was sick.

He met Paul Simon in the sixth grade at PS 164. They were both in their elementary school play, Alice in Wonderland. Garfunkel says Simon became interested in singing after hearing him sing "Too Young" at a school talent show.

From 1956 to 1962, Art and Paul performed as "Tom & Jerry." This name was given to them by their record label, Big Records. They often played at school dances. Their favorite group was The Everly Brothers, and they copied their two-part harmonies. In 1957, "Tom & Jerry" recorded "Hey, Schoolgirl," which reached number 49 on the pop charts. After this, Garfunkel released two songs as "Artie Garr," but they did not become hits.

After high school, Garfunkel went to Columbia University. He studied architecture and later art history. He was also on the tennis, skiing, fencing, and bowling teams. He joined an a cappella singing group called the Columbia Kingsmen. While at Columbia, he helped his blind roommate, Sanford Greenberg, by reading textbooks to him. Greenberg later gave Garfunkel money to record a demo of "The Sound of Silence." Garfunkel earned a bachelor's degree in art history in 1965. He also earned a master's degree in mathematics education in 1967.

Music Career

Simon and Garfunkel's Success

Garfunkel with Paul Simon at Madison Square Garden, 1972

In 1963, Garfunkel and Simon reunited as "Simon and Garfunkel." They released their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., in 1964. It wasn't very popular at first, and the duo split up.

However, in 1965, a producer named Tom Wilson added electric instruments to their song "The Sound of Silence" and released it as a single. It became a number one hit! Simon, who was in the United Kingdom, returned to the US to reunite with Garfunkel.

They then recorded four more successful albums: Sounds of Silence, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, Bookends, and Bridge over Troubled Water.

In 1967, they contributed to the movie The Graduate. While writing "Mrs. Robinson", Paul Simon thought about calling it "Mrs. Roosevelt." But the movie director said, "Don't be silly! We're making a movie here! It's Mrs. Robinson!"

Garfunkel was not a songwriter, but he helped arrange the vocals for the duo. He decided who would sing which parts and how the songs would be produced. He also helped create the arrangement for "The Boxer".

Simon & Garfunkel decided to split up in 1970 after releasing their album Bridge over Troubled Water. They had some disagreements and wanted to try solo projects. They did reunite sometimes, like in 1975 for their hit song "My Little Town". In 1981, they performed a famous concert in Central Park, New York City. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

In 2003, they received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. This led to a successful "Old Friends" concert tour in the US. In 2004, they performed a free concert in Rome, Italy, which drew 600,000 people!

Solo Music Career

After Simon & Garfunkel broke up, Art Garfunkel took a break from music. He acted in two movies by Mike Nichols: Catch-22 (1970) and Carnal Knowledge (1971). He also taught geometry to high school students for a short time.

In 1972, Garfunkel decided to return to music. His first solo album, Angel Clare, came out in 1973. It included songs like "All I Know". In 1975, he released Breakaway. This album included the song "I Only Have Eyes For You", which became his first number one hit in the UK.

In 1977, Garfunkel released the album Watermark. It included his cover of Sam Cooke's "(What a) Wonderful World". Paul Simon and James Taylor sang backup vocals on this song, and it became a big hit on the Adult Contemporary charts.

His 1979 album Fate for Breakfast included the song "Bright Eyes", which was a huge number one hit in the UK. This song was also featured in the movie Watership Down.

Garfunkel in a concert in Dublin, c. 1981

In the 1980s, Garfunkel faced some challenges in his career. His 1981 album, Scissors Cut, did not sell well. He reunited with Simon for the Central Park concert and a world tour. However, they had disagreements, and a planned reunion album became a solo album for Paul Simon.

Garfunkel took another break from music when his father passed away. He met his future wife, Kathryn "Kim" Cermak, in 1985. They married in 1988. His next album, Lefty, was released in 1988.

Later Career

In 1996, Garfunkel released a live concert album called Across America. It was recorded at Ellis Island and featured guests like James Taylor.

He also sang the theme song for the TV series Brooklyn Bridge in 1991. In 1998, he sang "The Ballad of Buster Baxter" for the children's TV show Arthur, where he was shown as a singing moose.

In 2003, Garfunkel released Everything Waits to Be Noticed. This was special because it was his first album where he was credited as a songwriter. He worked with Maia Sharp and Buddy Mondlock on the songs, some of which were originally his poems.

Art Garfunkel in New York City, 2013

In 2009, Garfunkel appeared as himself on the TV show Flight of the Conchords. He continued to tour with musicians and his son.

In 2010, Garfunkel had vocal problems due to a health issue affecting his vocal cords. This made singing difficult. Simon & Garfunkel had to cancel a tour. He worked hard to recover his voice. By 2014, his voice was restored, and he resumed touring.

In 2015, he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in a funny skit. In 2017, he published his memoir, What Is It All but Luminous: Notes from an Underground Man. In 2023, his management announced that he would not be touring for a while.

Poetry

Art Garfunkel loves to read. He started reading many books when he went to Columbia University. This led to his interest in poetry.

He began writing poetry in 1981 while on tour. In 1989, he released Still Water, a collection of his prose poetry.

Garfunkel's website has a list of every book he has read since 1968. The list has over 1,000 books! He has even read the entire Random House Dictionary.

Acting Career

Garfunkel also pursued acting. He appeared in two Mike Nichols films: Catch-22 (1970) and Carnal Knowledge (1971). For his role in Carnal Knowledge, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He later appeared in Bad Timing (1980) and Boxing Helena (1993). His most recent film is The Rebound (2010), where he played a funny character named Harry Finklestein.

Voice and Personal Life

Garfunkel is a tenor, which means he has a high singing voice. He usually sang the higher parts in Simon & Garfunkel's songs. He stopped smoking around 2010 to help his vocal cords recover.

Art Garfunkel married Kathryn "Kim" Cermak in 1988. They have two sons: Arthur Jr., born in 1990, and Beau, born in 2005. Arthur Jr. is also a singer.

Garfunkel enjoys long walks. In the 1980s, he walked across Japan. From 1983 to 1997, he walked across the United States, taking many trips to complete the journey from New York to Oregon. In 1998, he started walking across Europe, finishing in Istanbul in 2015.

Even though he's from New York, Garfunkel is a lifelong fan of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. He once wrote that he chose them because he didn't want to follow the crowd and liked their red pinstripes.

Awards and Nominations

Nominations

• 1972 Golden Globe Awards, Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, for Carnal Knowledge
• 1998 Grammy Awards, Best Musical Album for Children, for Songs from a Parent to a Child

Awards

• 1969 Grammy Awards, Record of the Year, for "Mrs. Robinson" (with Simon & Garfunkel)
• 1969 Grammy Awards, Best Contemporary Pop Performance, for "Mrs. Robinson" (with Simon & Garfunkel)
• 1970 Grammy Awards, Album of the Year, for Bridge over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel)
• 1970 Grammy Awards, Record of the Year, for "Bridge over Troubled Water"
• 1970 Grammy Awards, Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), for Bridge over Troubled Water
• 1977 Britannia Award, Best International Pop LP and Single, 1952–77, for "Bridge over Troubled Water"
• 2015 German Sustainability Award

Work on Broadway

• Rock 'N Roll! The First 5,000 Years (1982) – featured singer for Mrs. Robinson
• Mike Nichols and Elaine May: Together Again on Broadway (1992) – performer
• The Graduate (2002) – featured songwriter

Discography

• Angel Clare (1973)
• Breakaway (1975)
• Watermark (1977)
• Fate for Breakfast (1979)
• Scissors Cut (1981)
• The Animals' Christmas (1985) (with Amy Grant)
• Lefty (1988)
• Songs from a Parent to a Child (1997)
• Everything Waits to Be Noticed (2002) (with Maia Sharp and Buddy Mondlock)
• Some Enchanted Evening (2007)
• Father and Son (2024) (with Art Garfunkel Jr.)

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Art Garfunkel para niños