Burt Bacharach

He married four times. The first one was with American actress Paula Stewart from December 22, 1953 to 1958.

He then married American actress Angie Dickinson on May 15, 1965, which ended in divorce on August 4, 1981. Their daughter Nikki who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome committed suicide at age 40 in 2007.

He was then married to American lyricist, singer-songwriter, painter and author Carole Bayer Sager from April 3, 1982 to July 11, 1991. They adopted a son Christopher.

He was born on May 12, 1928, in Kansas City, Missouri, US in the Jewish family of reputed syndicated newspaper columnist Mark Bertram "Bert" Bacharach and amateur painter and songwriter Irma M. (née Freeman). He was raised in Forest Hills, Queens.

His mother made him learn the piano as a child; however after attaining teenage he developed interest in jazz. He attended Forest Hills High School and graduated in 1946. He often visited the 52nd Street nightclubs using fake ID and listened to bebop musicians like Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. Their style would later impact his work as song-writer.

He earned Bachelor of Music degree from Montreal's McGill University in 1948 and also studied music from Music Academy of the West and Mannes School of Music. At one point he came under tutelage of Darius Milhaud who he considers his biggest influence. He penned down a ‘Sonatina for Violin, Oboe and Piano’ under guidance of Milhaud.

He had a stint with the US Army following which he remained associated with famous American singer Vic Damone as a pianist and conductor for three years. He also played same role for other singers like the Ames Brothers, Polly Bergen and Paula Stewart (later his first wife). At times he would also work with singers like Joel Grey at resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York.

He rose to prominence while working as arranger and conductor of nightclub shows of the Lola-Lola famed German-American movie star and vocalist Marlene Dietrich. He was recommended to the diva by composer Peter Matz in 1956. He intermittently toured worldwide with Dietrich till the early 1960s and also worked as her part-time music director. Their association of around five years ended when Bacharach expressed his wish to concentrate full-time on song-writing.

He met lyricist Hal David at the Brill Building in New York City in 1957 that initiated a writing endeavour between them. Their big break came that year with the song ‘The Story of My Life’ written by them and sung by US country singer Marty Robbins. The song peaked atop the US country chart for four weeks and ranked #15 in the Billboard Top 100 chart.

British crooner Michael Holliday recorded a cover version of ‘The Story of My Life’ that climbed atop the UK Singles Chart in February 1958. The song was replaced by yet another song written by Bacharach and David with music by the former titled ‘Magic Moments’ and recorded by Perry Como in 1957 for RCA Records. With such feat Bacharach and David became the first lyricists to spawn two consecutive chart topping UK singles.

He discovered Dionne Warwick in 1961 (who later became famous singer, actress and television show host). At that time she was working as a session accompanist. Her professional recording debut happened in 1962 with the hit song ‘Don't Make Me Over’ written and produced by Bacharach and David.