He was born in Brooklyn, NY, and educated at the University of North Carolina and UCLA. She was born Marilyn Keith in New York City and educated at NYU. Married since 1958, they are an extremely successful lyric-writing team, often for Michel Legrand's music, with several Academy Awards to their credit. Some of their notable (non-nominated) credits include songs for THE MARRIAGE-GO-ROUND (1960, Alan only), IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967), CHARRO!, JOHN AND MARY, STILETTO and GAILY, GAILY (all 1969), 40 CARATS (1973), ODE TO BILLY JOE, HARRY AND WALTER GO TO NEW YORK and A STAR IS BORN (all 1976), THE ONE AND ONLY (1978), ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (1979), A CHANGE OF SEASONS (1980), BOLERO (1981), AUTHOR! AUTHOR! (1982), NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN and THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN (both 1983) and BOGUS (1996). They also were lyricists for many television specials and series theme songs, including "The Gale Storm Show" (Marilyn only), "The Nat King Cole Show" (Marilyn only), "Maude," "Good Times," the made-for-TV movie "Queen of the Stardust Ballroom" (1975), "Alice," "The Nancy Walker Show" (Alan only), "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies" and the 2001 AFI Tribute to Barbra Streisand (Marilyn only). The Bergmans were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980.

Music Best Song 1968: THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR "The Windmills of Your Mind" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1969: THE HAPPY ENDING "What Are You Doing for the Rest of Your Life?" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1970: PIECES OF DREAMS "Pieces of Dreams" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1971: SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION (a.k.a. NEVER GIVE AN INCH) "All His Children" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1972: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey" - Lyric  Music Best Song 1973: THE WAY WE WERE "The Way We Were" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1978: SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR "The Last Time I Felt Like This" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1979: THE PROMISE "I'll Never Say Goodbye" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1982: BEST FRIENDS "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1982: YES, GIORGIO "If We Were in Love" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1982: TOOTSIE "It Might Be You" - Lyric  Music Best Score 1983: YENTL (w. Michel Legrand)  Nominated for Music Best Song 1983: YENTL "The Way You Make Me Feel" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1983: YENTL "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1989: SHIRLEY VALENTINE "The Girl Who Used To Be" - Lyric  Nominated for Music Best Song 1995: SABRINA "Moonlight" - Lyric 16 nominations, 3 Awards