Norman Gimbel
Norman Gimbel | |
---|---|
Born | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | November 16, 1927
Died | December 19, 2018 Montecito, California, U.S. | (aged 91)
Education | Baruch College, Columbia University |
Occupation(s) | Lyricist, songwriter |
Years active | 1950–2018 |
Awards | Academy Award for Best Original Song (1980) |
Norman Gimbel (November 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was an American lyricist and songwriter of popular songs and themes to television shows and films. He wrote the lyrics for songs including "
Early successes
Gimbel was born on November 16, 1927, in
Two Broadway musicals
Top songwriter Frank Loesser became Gimbel's mentor and, through Loesser, he met composer Moose Charlap with whom he wrote the first of his numerous songs to appear in films, "Past the Age of Innocence", from the 1951 Monogram musical, Rhythm Inn.
At the end of the decade, he collaborated with Charlap on the only
The opening night of Conquering Hero was almost two years later, on January 16, 1961. The production, at the
Hit English-language lyrics to Brazilian and French songs
In 1963, Gimbel was introduced by music publisher
Career as a lyricist of film songs and TV themes
In October 1968, Norman Gimbel moved to Los Angeles, where he became active in film and television. Among the Hollywood composers with whom he worked were Elmer Bernstein, Bill Conti, Jack Elliott, Charles Fox, Dave Grusin, Maurice Jarre, Quincy Jones, Fred Karlin, Francis Lai, Peter Matz, Lalo Schifrin, David Shire and Patrick Williams.
Gimbel received four
In 1971, Gimbel and Fox signed 19-year-old singer-songwriter Lori Lieberman to a management contract, taking 20% of her income—double the usual amount. Aged 44 years, Gimbel began an extra-marital affair with Lieberman which would last several years.[6] Gimbel said that he relied on Lieberman to inspire his songwriting creativity since he had passed the most creative days of his youth: "Now I need a reason to write, and Lori is one of the best reasons a lyricwriter could have."[7] Lieberman was inspired by a performance of Don McLean to write some lyrics for a song; she shared these with Gimbel who fleshed out the lyrics while Fox wrote the music. Lieberman, Gimbel and Fox collaborated on the song's title, adapted from Gimbel's notebook of ideas. The song became "Killing Me Softly with His Song", which Lieberman recorded in 1972 in the folk style. Gimbel and Fox produced the song and took full writing credit, cutting Lieberman out of future profits.[6] Roberta Flack heard this version and remade the song in her own style in 1973, creating a hit. The song was very profitable for Gimbel, and won him his second Grammy Award for Song of the Year.[8]
Also in 1973, the Gimbel and Fox song "
Continuing his working relationship with
In 1984, Gimbel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and continued to be active in film into 2009. He had written all the songs, including "A World Without Fences" for Disney's 2001 direct-to-video cartoon feature, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure, receiving a nomination for the Video Premiere Award, in addition to having provided song scores for The Phantom Tollbooth (1969), Where's Poppa? (1970), A Troll in Central Park (1994) and The Thief and the Cobbler (a/k/a Arabian Knight) (1995 U.S. version). Over the years, his songs were used in over ninety films, with some of the most popular titles, such as "The Girl from Ipanema", heard in 1997's Deconstructing Harry, 2002's Catch Me If You Can, 2005's V for Vendetta and Mr. & Mrs. Smith and 2007's The Invasion, and "Sway" heard in 2004's Shall We Dance? and 2046, 2006's Bella, 2007's No Reservations and 2008's Paris. Additional films which used his songs include 1980's Cloud Dancer (with composer Fred Karlin), 1984's Johnny Dangerously (with composer John Morris), 2006's Invincible ("I Got a Name") and Click ("So Nice") and the 2007 French film Roman de Gare, which featured his English-language lyrics to Gilbert Bécaud's "You'll See".
He had been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences since 1970.
Norman Gimbel died on December 19, 2018, in Montecito, California, aged 91.[1]
References
- ^ a b Barnes, Mike; Bartlett, Rhett (December 28, 2018). "Norman Gimbel, Famed Oscar- and Grammy-Winning Lyricist, Dies at 91". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
- ^ The Lori Lieberman Team, Billboard Magazine, June 22, 1974, page53
- ISBN 9780837918501.
- ^ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4JR-P3C : accessed 29 December 2018), Norma Gimbel in household of Morris Gimbel, Brooklyn (Districts 1751-1953), Kings, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1931, sheet 27B, line 83, family 627, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1525; FHL microfilm 2,341,260.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- ^ a b Edgers, Geoff (January 24, 2020). "She sang 'Killing Me Softly' before Roberta Flack. Now she just wants you to hear her side of the story". The Washington Post.
- ^ "The Lori Lieberman Team". Billboard. June 24, 1974. p. 53.
- ^ "Norman Gimbel, GRAMMY-winning Lyricist, Dies At 91". GRAMMY.com. January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.