Norman Gimbel
Encyclopedia
Norman Gimbel is an American
lyricist
of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway
", "Canadian Sunset
", "Summer Samba
", "The Girl from Ipanema
", "Killing Me Softly With His Song
", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You
", along with an Oscar for "It Goes Like It Goes" - from the film Norma Rae
. During 1984 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
.
, Norman Gimbel was self-taught in music and following initial employment with music publisher David Blum, progressed to become a contract songwriter with Edwin H. Morris Music. Small successes and moderate fame came as a result of lively novelty songs "Ricochet
", which was popularized in a 1953 recording by Teresa Brewer
from which was developed the 1954 Judy Canova
film Ricochet Romance, and "A Whale of a Tale", sung by Kirk Douglas
in another 1954 production, Disney
's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
. Greater success was earned with Dean Martin
's recording of "Sway", which reached #6 on the UK Singles Chart
, followed by his first big success, Andy Williams
' rendition of "Canadian Sunset", which scored to #1 in 1956.
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 Broadway
musicals for which he has written lyrics, Whoop-Up
and The Conquering Hero
. Whoop-Up is set within a modern-day Native American
community located on a reservation
. The novel which provided the basis for the show, Dan Cushman's Stay Away, Joe
, was filmed ten years later, under its original title, as a vehicle for Elvis Presley
, using an unrelated screenplay and score. The show's Joe was portrayed by Ralph Young
, who achieved stardom in the 1960s and 70s as one-half of the singing duo, Sandler and Young
. The production was directed by Cy Feuer
and choreographed by Onna White
who received a Tony
nomination for her contribution to the show, with another nomination going to Julienne Marie for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
. Cushman, along with Feuer and Ernest H. Martin, also wrote the book of the show. Eleven of the eighteen songs by Gimbel and Charlap were heard in the first act, and the remaining seven in act two. Whoop Up opened at the Shubert Theatre
on December 22, 1958 and, despite some encouraging reviews, ended after a disappointing 56 performances on February 7, 1959.
The opening night of Conquering Hero was almost two years later, on January 16, 1961. The production, at the ANTA Playhouse, had a book by Larry Gelbart
, based on Preston Sturges
' 1944 screenplay and film, Hail the Conquering Hero
. It was directed by Albert Marre
, choreographed by Todd Bolender
and starred Tom Poston
as Woodrow Truesmith, the character originated in the movie by Eddie Bracken
. Ella Raines
' Libby was portrayed by Kay Brown, and Lionel Stander
, as Sgt. Murdock, took over William Demarest
's Sgt. Heppelfinger. Act one had ten of Gimbel's and Charlap's fourteen songs, while four songs (and four reprises from the first act) were sung in act two. Ultimately, Hero fared even worse than Whoop-Up, closing on January 21, after only 7 performances.
to a group of young Brazil
ian bossa nova
composers, including Antônio Carlos Jobim
, Luiz Bonfá
and Baden Powell
, for whose works he started writing English-language
lyrics. Most notably, he created the lyrics for Marcos Valle
's "Summer Samba", also known as "So Nice", as well as Jobim’s "How Insensitive", "The Girl from Ipanema" (turning it into a top hit for Astrud Gilberto
) and "Meditation", which has gained the status of a "classic" in the jazz and bossa nova genres. He also provided the lyrics for French
composers Michel Legrand
(two themes from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg—"Watch What Happens" and the Oscar-nominated "I Will Wait for You"), Eddy Marnay
and Emil Stern ("Amazing") and singer-composer Gilbert Bécaud
("You'll See" and other songs). He also provided the lyrics for Belgium jazz harmonica player Toots Thielemans ("Bluesette")."Only Love" sung by Nana Mouskuri - No 2 United Kingdom (Performed in a Command Performance for the Queen Mum).
, where he became very 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 Golden Globes nominations, the first of which was for the song "Circles in the Water," with music by Francis Lai
), written for the American distribution of the 1967 French film Live for Life
, while the second honored "Stay" (with composer Ernest Gold), heard in the 1969 film The Secret of Santa Vittoria
. The other two were for the songs "Richard's Window," from 1975's The Other Side of the Mountain
, and "Ready to Take a Chance Again," used in 1978's Foul Play
. Both songs, whose lyrics Gimbel wrote to music that had been composed by Charles Fox, his most frequent collaborator, were also nominated for Oscars.
In 1973 Gimbel experienced another great success when Roberta Flack
hit it big with her cover of "Killing Me Softly with His Song
". Co-written with Charles Fox
, it was originally written for LA bistro singer Lori Lieberman
after she told them of her reaction to seeing Don McLean
live in concert. The song won him his second Grammy Award for Song of the Year
. The same year his and Fox's "I Got a Name
," from the 1973 film The Last American Hero
, was voted "Best Film Song" by the Young New York Film Critics. In 1979 he had his only Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series" for The Paper Chase
, which he again shared with Fox. Los Angeles theater work with Fox included a rock/pop version of A Midsummer Night's Dream
for the city's Shakespeare Festival, seen at the Ford Amphitheatre, and The Eleventh, which played the Sunset Theater. The year 1980 was a banner year at the Oscars
for Norman Gimbel with a win for "Original Music Score
" and "Best Original Song
" ("It Goes Like It Goes
"), written with David Shire
for the film Norma Rae
.
Continuing his working relationship with Charles Fox
, Gimbel wrote lyrics for the theme songs of many TV series, including Laverne & Shirley
, Happy Days
, Angie
, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
, Wonder Woman
, the Emmy-winning theme for The Paper Chase, and the song score for Pufnstuf, the 1970 film version of the 1969–71 Saturday-morning cult children's series H.R. Pufnstuf
.
In 1984, Gimbel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and continued to be active in film into 2009. He has 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 have been 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 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." To date, Imdb Filmography credits Norman Gimbel with having over 646 entries of his songs in films and television.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway
Sway (song)
"Sway" is the English version of "¿Quién será?", a 1953 mambo song by Mexican composer and bandleader Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. The most famous version is that of Dean Martin recorded in 1954. English lyrics are by Norman Gimbel...
", "Canadian Sunset
Canadian Sunset
"Canadian Sunset" is a popular song with music by jazz pianist Eddie Heywood and lyrics by Norman Gimbel. An instrumental version by Heywood and Hugo Winterhalter reached #2 on the Billboard chart in 1956. A version sung by Andy Williams was also popular that year, reaching #7 on the Billboard chart...
", "Summer Samba
Summer Samba
Summer Samba is a 1966 bossa nova song by Brazilian composer Marcos Valle, with English-language lyrics by Norman Gimbel; the original Portuguese lyrics came from Paulo Sérgio Valle, brother to the composer.The song was first popularized by the Walter Wanderley Trio in 1966 — the album Rain...
", "The Girl from Ipanema
The Girl from Ipanema
"Garota de Ipanema" is a well-known bossa nova song, a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s that won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. English lyrics were written later by Norman Gimbel.The...
", "Killing Me Softly With His Song
Killing Me Softly with His Song
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a 1971 song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. It has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by Roberta Flack whose version topped the U.S...
", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You
I Will Wait for You
"I Will Wait For You" is a song from the French musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg . Its music was composed by Michel Legrand and its lyrics written by Jacques Demy. It was performed in the film by Catherine Deneuve, whose voice was dubbed by Danielle Licari. The English lyrics of the song were...
", along with an Oscar for "It Goes Like It Goes" - from the film Norma Rae
Norma Rae
Norma Rae is a 1979 American drama film that tells the story of a factory worker from a small town in North Carolina, who becomes involved in the labor union activities at the textile factory where she works...
. During 1984 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
.
Early successes
A native of BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, Norman Gimbel was self-taught in music and following initial employment with music publisher David Blum, progressed to become a contract songwriter with Edwin H. Morris Music. Small successes and moderate fame came as a result of lively novelty songs "Ricochet
Ricochet (song)
"Ricochet" is a popular song. The credits show it to be written by Larry Coleman, Joe Darion, and Norman Gimbel, without apportioning the work on the lyrics and music, in 1953...
", which was popularized in a 1953 recording by Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
from which was developed the 1954 Judy Canova
Judy Canova
Judy Canova , born Juliette Canova, was an American comedienne, actress, singer and radio personality. She appeared on Broadway and in films...
film Ricochet Romance, and "A Whale of a Tale", sung by Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
in another 1954 production, Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 adventure film starring Kirk Douglas as Ned Land, James Mason as Captain Nemo, Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Aronnax, and Peter Lorre as Conseil. It was the first science fiction film produced by Walt Disney Productions, as well as the only science-fiction...
. Greater success was earned with Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
's recording of "Sway", which reached #6 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, followed by his first big success, Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
' rendition of "Canadian Sunset", which scored to #1 in 1956.
Two Broadway musicals
Top songwriter Frank LoesserFrank Loesser
Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...
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
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
musical, Rhythm Inn.
At the end of the decade, he collaborated with Charlap on the only Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musicals for which he has written lyrics, Whoop-Up
Whoop-Up
Whoop-Up is a musical with a music by Mark Charlap, lyrics by Norman Gimbel, and book by Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin, based on “Stay Away, Joe” by Dan Cushman...
and The Conquering Hero
The Conquering Hero
The Conquering Hero is a musical with a music by Mark Charlap, lyrics by Norman Gimbel, and book by Larry Gelbart. The musical was based on Preston Sturges' 1944 film Hail the Conquering Hero....
. Whoop-Up is set within a modern-day Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
community located on a reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
. The novel which provided the basis for the show, Dan Cushman's Stay Away, Joe
Stay Away, Joe
Stay Away, Joe is a 1968 comedy-drama western film with musical interludes set in modern times and starring Elvis Presley, Burgess Meredith and Joan Blondell. The film was based on the 1953 novel by Dan Cushman, a satirical farce...
, was filmed ten years later, under its original title, as a vehicle for Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, using an unrelated screenplay and score. The show's Joe was portrayed by Ralph Young
Ralph Young (singer)
Ralph Young was an American singer and actor. He was best known as the partner of Tony Sandler in the singing duo of Sandler and Young....
, who achieved stardom in the 1960s and 70s as one-half of the singing duo, Sandler and Young
Sandler and Young
Sandler and Young were a popular singing team from the 1960s through the 1980s, composed of Belgian-born Tony Sandler and native New Yorker Ralph Young....
. The production was directed by Cy Feuer
Cy Feuer
Cy Feuer was an American theatre producer, director, composer, and musician.Born Seymour Arnold Feuerman in Brooklyn, New York,he studied trumpet privately with Max Schlossberg, he became a professional trumpeter at the age of fifteen, working at clubs on weekends to help support his family while...
and choreographed by Onna White
Onna White
Onna White was a Canadian choreographer and dancer nominated for eight Tony Awards.-Career:Born in Inverness, Nova Scotia, White began taking dance lessons at the age of twelve, and eventually her studies took her to the famed San Francisco Ballet Company, where she danced in the first full-length...
who received a Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for her contribution to the show, with another nomination going to Julienne Marie for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
This is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976....
. Cushman, along with Feuer and Ernest H. Martin, also wrote the book of the show. Eleven of the eighteen songs by Gimbel and Charlap were heard in the first act, and the remaining seven in act two. Whoop Up opened at the Shubert Theatre
Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...
on December 22, 1958 and, despite some encouraging reviews, ended after a disappointing 56 performances on February 7, 1959.
The opening night of Conquering Hero was almost two years later, on January 16, 1961. The production, at the ANTA Playhouse, had a book by Larry Gelbart
Larry Gelbart
Larry Simon Gelbart was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
, based on Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois...
' 1944 screenplay and film, Hail the Conquering Hero
Hail the Conquering Hero
Hail the Conquering Hero is a satirical comedy/drama written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines and William Demarest, and featuring Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson and Bill Edwards....
. It was directed by Albert Marre
Albert Marre
Albert Marre is an American director and producer in the theatre.Born in New York City, Marre made his Broadway debut as an actor and associate director of the 1950 revival of John Vanbrugh's Restoration comedy The Relapse...
, choreographed by Todd Bolender
Todd Bolender
Todd Bolender was a renowned ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director. He was an instrumental figure in the creation and dissemination of classical dance and ballet as an American art form...
and starred Tom Poston
Tom Poston
Thomas Gordon "Tom" Poston was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950...
as Woodrow Truesmith, the character originated in the movie by Eddie Bracken
Eddie Bracken
Edward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Life and career:Bracken was born in Astoria, New York, the son of Catherine and Joseph L. Bracken. Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940...
. Ella Raines
Ella Raines
Ella Wallace Raines was an American film and television actress.-Life and career:Born Ella Wallace Raubes near Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, Raines studied drama at the University of Washington and was appearing in a play there when she was seen by Howard Hawks...
' Libby was portrayed by Kay Brown, and Lionel Stander
Lionel Stander
Lionel Jay Stander was an American actor in films, radio, theater and television.-Early life and career:Lionel Stander was born in The Bronx, New York, to Russian Jewish immigrants, the first of three children...
, as Sgt. Murdock, took over William Demarest
William Demarest
Carl William Demarest was an American character actor. He frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles.-Early life and career:...
's Sgt. Heppelfinger. Act one had ten of Gimbel's and Charlap's fourteen songs, while four songs (and four reprises from the first act) were sung in act two. Ultimately, Hero fared even worse than Whoop-Up, closing on January 21, after only 7 performances.
Hit English-language lyrics to Brazilian and French songs
In 1963, Gimbel was introduced by music publisher Lou LevyLou Levy (publisher)
Lou Levy was a music publisher during the Tin Pan Alley era of American popular music.Levy established Leeds Music in 1935 with his friends, lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Saul Chaplin. He is credited with the discoveries of Cahn and Chaplin, Bob Dylan, Charles Strouse, Richard Adler and Jerry...
to a group of young Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
composers, including Antônio Carlos Jobim
Antônio Carlos Jobim
Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim , was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within...
, Luiz Bonfá
Luiz Bonfá
Luiz Floriano Bonfá was a Brazilian guitarist and composer best known for the compositions he penned for the film Black Orpheus.-Biography:...
and Baden Powell
Baden Powell de Aquino
Baden Powell de Aquino usually known simply as Baden Powell, was one of the greatest Brazilian guitarists. He explored the instrument to its utmost limits, playing it in a distinctive, unique manner, incorporating virtuoso classical techniques together with popular harmony and swing...
, for whose works he started writing English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
lyrics. Most notably, he created the lyrics for Marcos Valle
Marcos Valle
Marcos Kostenbader Valle is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and record producer. He has produced works in many musical styles, including bossa nova, samba, incidental music and fusions of American/European rock, soul and dance music with Brazilian styles.-Biography:Valle's talent was evident from...
's "Summer Samba", also known as "So Nice", as well as Jobim’s "How Insensitive", "The Girl from Ipanema" (turning it into a top hit for Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
) and "Meditation", which has gained the status of a "classic" in the jazz and bossa nova genres. He also provided the lyrics for French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composers Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
(two themes from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg—"Watch What Happens" and the Oscar-nominated "I Will Wait for You"), Eddy Marnay
Eddy Marnay
Eddy Marnay was a French songwriter. In his career, he wrote more than 100 songs, including works for Édith Piaf and Céline Dion. He also wrote the title song for Charlie Chaplin's 1957 film A King in New York....
and Emil Stern ("Amazing") and singer-composer Gilbert Bécaud
Gilbert Bécaud
Gilbert Bécaud was a French singer, composer and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et Maintenant", a 1961 release that became an English language hit as "What Now My Love"...
("You'll See" and other songs). He also provided the lyrics for Belgium jazz harmonica player Toots Thielemans ("Bluesette")."Only Love" sung by Nana Mouskuri - No 2 United Kingdom (Performed in a Command Performance for the Queen Mum).
His long career as award-winning lyricist of film songs
In October 1967 Norman Gimbel moved to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where he became very active in film and television. Among the Hollywood composers with whom he worked were Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
, Bill Conti
Bill Conti
William "Bill" Conti is an American film music composer who is frequently the conductor at the Academy Awards ceremony.-Early life and career:...
, Jack Elliott, Charles Fox
Charles Fox (composer)
Charles Ira Fox is an American composer for film and television. His most heard compositions are probably the "love themes" , and the dramatic theme music to ABC's Wide World of Sports and the original Monday Night Football.....
, Dave Grusin
Dave Grusin
David Grusin is an American composer, arranger and pianist. Grusin has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy award and 12 Grammys...
, Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre
Maurice-Alexis Jarre was a French composer and conductor.Although he composed several concert works, he is best known for his film scores, and is particularly known for his collaborations with film director David Lean. Jarre composed the scores to all of Lean's films since Lawrence of Arabia...
, Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, Fred Karlin
Fred Karlin
Fred Karlin was an American composer of more than one hundred scores for feature films and television movies. He also was an accomplished trumpeter adept at playing jazz, blues, classical, rock, and medieval music....
, Francis Lai
Francis Lai
Francis Lai is a French accordionist, and composer noted for his film scores.While in his twenties, Francis Lai left home and went to Paris where he became part of the lively Montmartre music scene...
, Peter Matz
Peter Matz
Peter Matz was an award winning American musician, composer, arranger and conductor. His musical career in film, theater, television and studio recording spanned fifty years, and he worked with a number of prominent artists, including Marlene Dietrich, Noël Coward and Barbra Streisand...
, Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
, David Shire
David Shire
David Lee Shire is an American songwriter and the composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. The soundtrack to the movie The Taking of Pelham 123 and parts of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack such as Night on Disco Mountain, an adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald...
and Patrick Williams.
Gimbel received four Golden Globes nominations, the first of which was for the song "Circles in the Water," with music by Francis Lai
Francis Lai
Francis Lai is a French accordionist, and composer noted for his film scores.While in his twenties, Francis Lai left home and went to Paris where he became part of the lively Montmartre music scene...
), written for the American distribution of the 1967 French film Live for Life
Live for Life
Live for Life is a 1967 French film directed by Claude Lelouch and starred by Yves Montand, Candice Bergen and Annie Girardot. The film won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...
, while the second honored "Stay" (with composer Ernest Gold), heard in the 1969 film The Secret of Santa Vittoria
The Secret of Santa Vittoria
The Secret of Santa Vittoria is a 1969 film made by Stanley Kramer Productions and distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Stanley Kramer and co-produced by George Glass from a screenplay by Ben Maddow and William Rose. It was based on the novel by Robert Crichton...
. The other two were for the songs "Richard's Window," from 1975's The Other Side of the Mountain
The Other Side of the Mountain
The Other Side of the Mountain is a 1975 American film based on a true story of ski racing champion Jill Kinmont.In early 1955, Kinmont was the national champion in slalom and was a top U.S. prospect for a medal in the 1956 Winter Olympics, a year away...
, and "Ready to Take a Chance Again," used in 1978's Foul Play
Foul Play
Foul Play is a 1978 American comic mystery/thriller film written and directed by Colin Higgins. In it, a recently divorced librarian is drawn into a mystery when a stranger hides a roll of film in a pack of cigarettes and gives it to her for safekeeping....
. Both songs, whose lyrics Gimbel wrote to music that had been composed by Charles Fox, his most frequent collaborator, were also nominated for Oscars.
In 1973 Gimbel experienced another great success when Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
hit it big with her cover of "Killing Me Softly with His Song
Killing Me Softly with His Song
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a 1971 song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. It has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by Roberta Flack whose version topped the U.S...
". Co-written with Charles Fox
Charles Fox (composer)
Charles Ira Fox is an American composer for film and television. His most heard compositions are probably the "love themes" , and the dramatic theme music to ABC's Wide World of Sports and the original Monday Night Football.....
, it was originally written for LA bistro singer Lori Lieberman
Lori Lieberman
Lori Lieberman is an American singer. She was born in California and grew up in Switzerland, and signed a deal with Capitol Records in the early 1970s. Her self-titled debut album featured the tune "Killing Me Softly with His Song", written by composers Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel after...
after she told them of her reaction to seeing Don McLean
Don McLean
Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
live in concert. The song won him his second Grammy Award for Song of the Year
Grammy Award for Song of the Year
The Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in all of the American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 and unlike the Record of the Year award, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year...
. The same year his and Fox's "I Got a Name
I Got a Name
-Songwriting:Croce's wife Ingrid Croce has an autobiographical cookbook, Thyme In A Bottle, in which she writes interesting anecdotes about Jim. What she wrote about "I'll Have To Say 'I Love You' in a Song" is this....
," from the 1973 film The Last American Hero
The Last American Hero
The Last American Hero is a 1973 sports drama film based on the true story of American NASCAR driver Junior Johnson...
, was voted "Best Film Song" by the Young New York Film Critics. In 1979 he had his only Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series" for The Paper Chase
The Paper Chase (TV series)
The Paper Chase is a television series based on a 1970 novel by John Jay Osborn, Jr., as well as a 1973 film based on the novel. It follows the lives of law student James T. Hart and his classmates at Harvard Law School.-Production:...
, which he again shared with Fox. Los Angeles theater work with Fox included a rock/pop version of A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
for the city's Shakespeare Festival, seen at the Ford Amphitheatre, and The Eleventh, which played the Sunset Theater. The year 1980 was a banner year at the Oscars
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Norman Gimbel with a win for "Original Music Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
" and "Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
" ("It Goes Like It Goes
It Goes Like It Goes
"It Goes Like It Goes" is a song written by David Shire and Norman Gimbel. It was sung by Jennifer Warnes for the Norma Rae soundtrack in 1979...
"), written with David Shire
David Shire
David Lee Shire is an American songwriter and the composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. The soundtrack to the movie The Taking of Pelham 123 and parts of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack such as Night on Disco Mountain, an adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald...
for the film Norma Rae
Norma Rae
Norma Rae is a 1979 American drama film that tells the story of a factory worker from a small town in North Carolina, who becomes involved in the labor union activities at the textile factory where she works...
.
Continuing his working relationship with Charles Fox
Charles Fox (composer)
Charles Ira Fox is an American composer for film and television. His most heard compositions are probably the "love themes" , and the dramatic theme music to ABC's Wide World of Sports and the original Monday Night Football.....
, Gimbel wrote lyrics for the theme songs of many TV series, including Laverne & Shirley
Laverne & Shirley
Laverne & Shirley is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from January 26, 1976, to May 10, 1983...
, Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
, Angie
Angie (TV series)
Angie is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast by the ABC network from February 1979 until October 1980.-Premise:Philadelphia coffee shop waitress Angie Falco starts a romance with customer Bradley Benson...
, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is a television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes and business moguls....
, Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman (TV series)
Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979....
, the Emmy-winning theme for The Paper Chase, and the song score for Pufnstuf, the 1970 film version of the 1969–71 Saturday-morning cult children's series H.R. Pufnstuf
H.R. Pufnstuf
H.R. Pufnstuf was a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program. The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast September 6, 1969 to September 4, 1971...
.
In 1984, Gimbel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and continued to be active in film into 2009. He has written all the songs, including "A World Without Fences" for Disney's 2001 direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
cartoon feature, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure
Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure
Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure is a 2001 direct-to-video animated film which was released on February 27, 2001 by The Walt Disney Company as a sequel to the 1955 feature film Lady and the Tramp. The story centers around Lady and Tramp's anthropomorphic puppy, Scamp, and his desire to...
, receiving a nomination for the Video Premiere Award, in addition to having provided song scores for The Phantom Tollbooth
The Phantom Tollbooth (film)
The Phantom Tollbooth is a 1970 American live-action/animated film based on Norton Juster's 1961 children's book The Phantom Tollbooth. This film was produced by Chuck Jones at MGM Animation/Visual Arts. Jones also directed the film, save for the live action bookends directed by fellow Warner Bros....
(1969), Where's Poppa?
Where's Poppa?
Where's Poppa? is a 1970 black comedy film based on the novel by Robert Klane starring George Segal, Ron Leibman and Ruth Gordon. The plot revolves around the troubled relationship between a lawyer son played by Segal and his senile mother played by Gordon...
(1970), A Troll in Central Park
A Troll in Central Park
A Troll in Central Park is a 1994 animated feature-length film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, creators of films such as Thumbelina, The Land Before Time, and All Dogs Go to Heaven. It was released on October 7, 1994 by Warner Bros...
(1994) and The Thief and the Cobbler
The Thief and the Cobbler
The Thief and the Cobbler is an animated feature film, famous for its animation and its long, troubled history. The film was conceived by Canadian animator Richard Williams, who worked 28 years on the project. Beginning production in 1964, Williams intended The Thief and the Cobbler to be his...
(a/k/a Arabian Knight) (1995 U.S. version). Over the years, his songs have been used in over ninety films, with some of the most popular titles, such as "The Girl from Ipanema", heard in 1997's Deconstructing Harry
Deconstructing Harry
Deconstructing Harry is a black comedy film by Woody Allen released in 1997. This film tells the story of a successful writer called Harry Block, played by Allen himself, who draws inspiration from people he knows in real-life, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to...
, 2002's Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can is a 2002 American biographical comedy-drama film based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who, before his 19th birthday, successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor...
, 2005's V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta (film)
V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd...
and Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005 film)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 2005 American romantic comedy action film directed by Doug Liman and written by Simon Kinberg. The original music score was composed by John Powell...
and 2007's The Invasion
The Invasion (film)
The Invasion is a 2007 science fiction thriller film starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, with additional scenes written by the Wachowski brothers and directed by James McTeigue....
, and "Sway" heard in 2004's Shall We Dance?
Shall We Dance? (2004 film)
Shall We Dance? is a 2004 American film. It is a remake of the award-winning Masayuki Suo 1996 Japanese film, Shall We Dance?. The film made its US premier at the Hawaii International Film Festival.-Plot:...
and 2046
2046 (film)
2046 is a 2004 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It is a loose sequel to the 1991 Hong Kong film Days of Being Wild and the 2000 Hong Kong film In the Mood for Love...
, 2006's Bella
Bella (film)
Bella is a 2006 film directed by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde starring Eduardo Verastegui and Tammy Blanchard. Set in New York City, the film is about the events of one day and the impact on the characters' lives.-Plot:...
, 2007's No Reservations
No Reservations (film)
No Reservations is a 2007 American romantic drama film directed by Scott Hicks. The screenplay by Carol Fuchs is an adaptation of an original script by Sandra Nettelbeck, which served as the basis for the 2001 German film Mostly Martha.-Plot:...
and 2008's Paris
Paris (2008 film)
Paris is a 2008 French film by Cédric Klapisch concerning a diverse group of people living in Paris. The film began shooting in November 2006 and was released in February 2008. Its UK release was in July 2008...
. Additional films which used his songs include 1984's Johnny Dangerously
Johnny Dangerously
Johnny Dangerously is a 1984 comedy spoof of 1930s' crime/gangster movies. It was directed by Amy Heckerling; its four screenwriters included Bernie Kukoff and Jeff Harris, both of whom previously created the hit TV series Diff'rent Strokes...
, (with composer John Morris
John Morris (composer)
John Morris is an American film and television composer, best known for his work with filmmaker Mel Brooks.-Life and career:...
), 2006's Invincible
Invincible (2006 film)
Invincible is a 2006 family film directed by Ericson Core set in 1976. It is based on the true story of Vince Papale, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1976–78. Mark Wahlberg portrays Papale and Greg Kinnear plays Papale's coach, Dick Vermeil...
("I Got a Name") and Click ("So Nice") and the 2007 French film Roman de Gare
Roman de Gare
Crossed Tracks is a 2007 French film directed by Claude Lelouch. The film follows a novelist, her ghost writer, and a wayward young woman as a chance encounter at a rest stop interrupts the delicate balance of their lives. French actor Dominique Pinon received wide praise for his rare turn as the...
, which featured his English-language lyrics to Gilbert Bécaud's "You'll See." To date, Imdb Filmography credits Norman Gimbel with having over 646 entries of his songs in films and television.
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