Alan Bergman

Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) is an American lyricist and songwriter.

Life & career
Born to Jewish parents in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows. He and his wife Marilyn Bergman, whom he married in 1958, were born in the same hospital and raised in the same Brooklyn neighborhood, but did not meet until each had relocated to Los Angeles. Together they have written the music and lyrics for numerous television shows, films, and stage musicals.

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); "Up Where We Belong" from "An Officer and a Gentleman" won that year.They also wrote the popular theme song And Then There's Maude  for the hit Norman Lear television series Maude.

Bergman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 and in 1995 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Berklee College of Music. He is a member of the board of Barbra Streisand's charitable foundation. In 2011, he was presented with a Distinguished Alumnus award from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was initiated as a member of the Alpha Rho Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity at UNC in 1943.

Works
Bergman's and his wife's credits include:
 * “Yellow Bird”, written for a new arrangement of the original creole song “Choucoune” by Norman Luboff (Norman Luboff Choir, Calypso Holiday, 1957)
 * “Something More!”, a musical with music by Sammy Fain (1964)
 * Title song for the film Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams with music by Johnny Mandel (1973)
 * Lyrics and music for the Broadway musical Ballroom (1978)
 * “You Don't Bring Me Flowers”, expanded by Neil Diamond (I'm Glad You're Here with Me Tonight, 1977), then sung by Barbra Streisand as part of a duet with Diamond (Songbird, 1978).
 * “Never Say Never Again” from the James Bond film of the same name (1983)
 * Theme songs for the television series The Sandy Duncan Show, Maude, Good Times, Bracken's World (with David Rose)
 * Lyrics for “Moonlight”, featured in the film Sabrina (1995)
 * Lyrics for “I Knew I Loved You”, a composition by Ennio Morricone, recorded by Céline Dion with producer Quincy Jones for the tribute album We All Love Ennio Morricone (2007)
 * With music by Marvin Hamlisch
 * “The Way We Were” for the film of the same name with Barbra Streisand (1973)
 * “The Last Time I Felt Like This” for the film Same Time, Next Year (1978)
 * With music by Michel Legrand
 * “The Windmills of Your Mind”, English lyrics for the French original featured as theme song for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and its remake (1999)
 * “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” for the film The Happy Ending (1969)
 * Sarah Vaughan with Michel Legrand (1972), lyrics for all but two songs from the album which also features an interpretation of “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?”
 * “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” for the film Best Friends (1982)
 * Yentl, lyrics for the film score (1983)

In 2007, Bergman released his first album as a vocalist, Lyrically, Alan Bergman, featuring some of the Bergmans' best known lyrics. Barbra Streisand's 2011 album What Matters Most was recorded in tribute to the Bergmans.

Bergman's talents can be seen on the podcast The Quincy Jones Show.