Norman Gimbel

Norman Gimbel (November 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was an American lyricist whose career spanned popular songs, film scores, and television themes, marked by collaborations with international composers and domestic hitmakers that yielded multiple Grammy and Academy Awards.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Austrian Jewish immigrant parents, Gimbel studied English literature at Baruch College and Columbia University before entering the music industry as a staff writer for publishers David Blum and Edwin H. Morris. His early successes included lyrics for "Canadian Sunset" (1956), a chart-topping instrumental-turned-vocal hit recorded by artists such as Hugo Winterhalter and the McGuire Sisters, and contributions to Broadway musicals like Whoop-Up (1958). A pivotal shift came in the 1960s when he adapted English lyrics for Brazilian bossa nova compositions, most notably "The Girl from Ipanema" (1963) with Antonio Carlos Jobim, which propelled the genre's popularity in the United States and earned a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965 for Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto's version.

Gimbel's partnership with composer Charles Fox produced enduring standards, including "Killing Me Softly with His Song" (1972), which won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1973 after Roberta Flack's recording topped charts worldwide, and "I Got a Name" for Jim Croce. He later secured an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "It Goes Like It Goes" from the 1979 film Norma Rae, composed with David Shire, and penned television themes such as the upbeat title song for Happy Days. Over his six-decade career, Gimbel's adaptable style—blending lyrical simplicity with emotional depth—resulted in over 200 published songs, many adapted from foreign originals or tailored for screen narratives, cementing his influence on mid-20th-century American popular music without reliance on partisan or ideological themes.