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Alan Bergman, the American lyricist and screenwriter who would find success primarily through his work in film, television, and popular music often in collaboration with his wife Marilyn, was born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City on 11th September 1925. He studied piano in NYC before attending the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where he studied Music and Dramatic Arts. Having served in the US Army during World War 2, Alan would later obtain a masters degree in music from the University of California UCLA.
After college, Alan went to work as a television director for WCAU in Philadelphia but a meeting with songwriter Johnny Mercer led to his being invited to Los Angeles where he started collaborating with Lew Spence, whose songs were being recorded by such stars as Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis and Bing Crosby. One of Lews other collaborators was a New York native, Marilyn Katz, who had moved to Los Angeles to become a concert pianist but had as she put it herself "drifted into songwriting really by accident because I had a fall and broke my shoulder and couldn't play piano so I started writing lyrics". In an odd coincidence, Alan had himself been born in the same New York hospital as Marilyn, and lived just a few blocks away from Marilyn's home in Brooklyn, although they had never met in New York.
In 1958, the couple married and settled down to a songwriting career in an era when the American songbook was undergoing a subtle transformation, and lyricists like Bergman were helping to bridge the gap between traditional standards and the emerging world of film and television songwriting.
Marilyn and Alan would go on to form one of the most prolific and respected songwriting duos of the 20th century. They wrote lyrics for some of the most poignant and enduring songs of the post-war era, often working with a range of distinguished composers, including Michel Legrand, Marvin Hamlisch, and Quincy Jones. Though he occasionally worked solo or with others, the majority of his most acclaimed work came from this partnership.
One of their most widely recognized songs remains "The Windmills of Your Mind," composed by Michel Legrand for the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair. The song, with its intricate and metaphor-rich lyrics, captured a sense of existential whirl and emotional complexity, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Bergman's lyrics often favoured a thoughtful, introspective tone, balancing poetic abstraction with emotional clarity. "The Windmills of Your Mind" served as a perfect showcase for that sensibility.
Alan also contributed to the song "The Way We Were," composed by Marvin Hamlisch and performed by Barbra Streisand. Released in 1973 for the film of the same name, the song became a massive hit and cultural touchstone, evoking themes of nostalgia, regret, and romantic memory. Its success further solidified Bergman's status in the pantheon of lyricists, as it won both the Academy Award and the Grammy Award for Song of the Year. Alan and Marilyn were closely associated with Streisand, writing several other songs for her over the decades, often tailored to her unique vocal phrasing and dramatic delivery.
Another of their collaborations with Michel Legrand, "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?," stood out as one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs in the American repertoire. First featured in the 1969 film The Happy Ending, it was nominated for an Academy Award and later became a standard, covered by numerous artists from Frank Sinatra to Sarah Vaughan. The lyrics explored future love in hypothetical terms, fusing romantic yearning with a delicate sense of times unfolding
Between them, scored hits with such stars as Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Noel Harrison, Sammy Davis, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, Johnny Mathis, Sergio Mendes, Bing Crosby, Taylor Dayne, Stephen Bishop, Paul Anka, Bill Medley, Sarah Vaughan, Patti Austin, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Dusty Springfield, Sting, Gladys Knight and James Ingram.
In television, Alan Bergman worked on theme songs and incidental music for several programs. Though many of these were less publicly visible than his film songs, they revealed his fluency in adapting lyrical tone to character and context. The Bergmans also made significant contributions to Broadway and the concert stage, writing material for musical revues and standalone compositions performed by symphonies and soloists alike.
In all, over a sixty-year career, the couple were awarded four Emmys, three Oscars, two Grammys and countless other accolades. Asked once, in view of the number of famous songwriting marriages which had failed, how the couple were able to collaborate while still remaining married, Marilyn famously replied "Like porcupines making love - very carefully". Marilun died in 2022 from respiratory failure.
Alan Bergman's approach to lyric writing was marked by a deep respect for melody and a nuanced understanding of vocal interpretation. He often spoke of writing with the singers breath in mind, aiming to ensure that the lyrics not only scanned well but also felt emotionally authentic when sung aloud. He was not a lyricist who relied on clever rhymes or flamboyant wordplay for their own sake; rather, his craft was in expressing complex emotions in a language that was both elegant and accessible.
His legacy rested not only on the awards and commercial success but on the emotional impact of his words - songs that spoke of longing, memory, identity, and connection. In an industry where trends came and went quickly, his lyrics maintained a timeless quality, offering listeners moments of reflection and intimacy.
He continued to write into his later years, always maintaining the same high standards and collaborative spirit that had defined his earlier work. Whether crafting a film ballad or a concert piece, Alan Bergman remained committed to the idea that lyrics could elevate music, deepening its emotional resonance and narrative power.
International Songwriters Association Hall Of Fame Member.
Alan Bergman died at the age of 99, on the 17th July 2025, in Los Angeles, California, USA, of respiratory failure.
© Jim Liddane
The above is just one of the many profiles of leading songwriters, singers, musicians and music industry personnel, published by the International Songwriters Association and "Songwriter Magazine". Please click HERE for more.
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