Marilyn Bergman

Marilyn Bergman (born November 10, 1929) is a composer, songwriter and author.

She was born Marilyn Katz 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, but their first meeting did not take place till each had relocated to Los Angeles. Together they have written the music and lyrics for numerous television shows, films, and stage musicals. One of their early successes was "Sleep Warm" the title track to Dean Martin's 1959 album on which Frank Sinatra was the 'guest' conductor. Sinatra sang his first of their compositions, "Nice 'n' Easy", on Sinatra Nice 'n' Easy, which came out in 1960.

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?" from Best Friends, "It Might Be You" from Tootsie (with Dave Grusin), and "If We Were in Love" from Yes, Giorgio (with John Williams).

Bergman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980. In 1986 she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. In 1995 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Berklee College of Music. The following year, she received France's highest cultural honor, the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters medal.

She served as President and Chairman of the Board of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the world's foremost performing right organization, for fifteen years. Bergman was elected in April 1994 after five terms as the first woman ever to serve on ASCAP's Board of Directors. Marilyn completed her term as President in April 2009, but continues to serve on ASCAP's Board.

Bergman and her husband's credits include:

• Lyrics for "The Windmills of Your Mind", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "Yellow Bird", "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?", and the score from Yentl, with music by Michel Legrand
• Lyrics for "The Way We Were", with music by Marvin Hamlisch
• Lyrics and music for Ballroom, a 1978 Broadway musical, "Never Say Never Again" from the film of the same name, the theme songs for the television series The Sandy Duncan Show; Maude and Good Times; Alice, with David Shire, and "Moonlight", featured in the film Sabrina
• 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 with music by Ennio Morricone.
• Lyrics for "Someone in the Dark" The E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" theme song performed by Michael Jackson
• Lyrics for "The Last Time I Felt Like This" with music by Marvin Hamlisch for the film Same Time, Next Year
• Lyrics for "Foul Owl" from the film "In the Heat of the Night" 1967
• Lyrics for "Something More!" with music by Sammy Fain

External links

• Internet Broadway Database listing
• Discogs/In the Heat of the Night
• Marilyn Bergman at IMDb