Best that You Can Do

Background:

Carole Bayer Sager is an Academy Award winning American lyricist, songwriter and singer. She won her Oscar in 1982 for “Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do),” the theme to the 1981 film “Arthur.” The song, which she wrote in collaboration with performer Christopher Cross and her then husband Burt Bacharach, also brought Sager her first Golden Globe Award and an ASCAP Film and Television Music Award. The New York Native collected five additional Oscar nominations for her work on “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977), “Ice Castles” (1978), “Beethoven's 2nd” (1993), “Junior” (1994) and “Quest for Camelot” (1998), from which she also picked up her second Golden Globe Award. More recently, she was handed a Satellite Award and a Golden Globe nomination for the song “Grace Is Gone,” from the film of the same name, with music by Clint Eastwood. Sager's work also comprises of television and stage. As a singer, Sager has released three albums: “Carole Bayer Sager” (Elektra, 1977), which produced the international hit single “You're Moving Out Today,” “...Too” (Elektra, 1978) and “Sometimes Late At Night” (Boardwalk, 1981).

Sager was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2002, she was awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting Award from the Hollywood Film. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Ms. Sager has been married three times. Her first marriage was to Andrew Sager, which lasted eight years (1970-1978). Her second marriage was to composer, pianist, singer and music producer Burt Bacharach, which lasted nine years (1982-1991). Sager and Bacharach have one son together. She is now married to business executive Robert A. Daly, who has led organizations such as CBS Entertainment, Warner Bros., Warner Music Group, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Currently, she lives in Los Angeles, CA, with her husband and son. Sager and Daly co-chair the Los Angeles Advisory Board of DonorsChoose, a public schools assistance program.

New York

Childhood and Family:

Carole Bayer Sager was born on March 8, 1947, in New York City, New York. She attended the New York City High School of Music and Art and New York University, from which she earned a degree in English, Dramatic Arts and Speech.

In 1970, Carol was married to Andrew Sager, but they later divorce in 1978. On April 3, 1992, she married pianist, composer and music producer Burt Bacharach (born May 12, 1928). They collaborated on many musical pieces, and had a son named Cristopher, before divorcing in 1991. Carol married her present husband, business executive Robert A. Daly, on June 8, 1996.

Nobody Does It Better

Career:

While still a student at the New York City High School of Music and Art, Carole Bayer Sager co-wrote “A Groovy Kind of Love,” with Toni Wine, for the Screen Gems music publishing company. The song was recorded by the British beat group The Mindbenders in 1965 as their debut single and it reached No. 2 on both the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100. The song was later covers by Phil Collins, which charted at No. 1 both in the US and the UK, Petula Clark, Sonny & Cher, Neil Diamond, and Dan Finnerty, among other artists. Sager has also collaborated with her former husband, composer Burt Bacharach, and other artists such as Neil Diamond, Peter Allen, Marvin Hamlisch, Michael Masser, Melissa Manchester, David Foster, Sheena Easton, Bruce Roberts, Neil Sedaka, Albert Hammond, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Michael McDonald, James Ingram, Donald Fagen, Babyface, and Clint Eastwood.

Sager's first big break arrived with the power ballad “Nobody Does It Better,” which was composed by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Sager. The song was recorded by Carly Simon as the theme song for the 1977 James Bond film “The Spy Who Love Me,” starring Roger Moore as 007. The song became a hit. It spent two weeks at No. 2 on the US Singles chart and reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The Song brought Sager an Academy Award nomination in 1978 in the category of Best Music, Original Song, in addition to two Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Score - Motion Picture and Best Original Song - Motion Picture, and a ASCAP Award for Most Performed Feature Film Standards (1989).

Still in 1977, Sager made her debut as a recording artist with the release of her self titled album, “Carole Bayer Sager,” on Elektra Records. It produced her biggest hit, “You're Moving Out Today,” which she wrote with Bette Midler and Bruce Roberts. The song peaked at No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart. The album went platinum in England, Germany, Japan and Australia. Sager would release tow more studio albums: “...Too” on Elektra in 1978 and “Sometimes Late At Night” on Boardwalk in 1981.

Sager wrote the lyrics of “Too Close to Paradise” for the soundtrack of the Sylvester Stallone's movie, “Paradise Alley” (1978), but she did not gain further attention until she reunited with Marvin Hamlisch for the theme song “Through the Eyes of Love” of “Ice Castles” (1978), a drama film directed by Donald Wrye and starring Lynn-Holly Johnson and Robby Benson. Performed by Melissa Manchester, the song was nominated for a 1980 Oscar for Best Music, Original Song, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song - Motion Picture, and a Grammy nomination for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special. 1978 also saw Manchester cover the song “Don't Cry Out Loud,” which Sager wrote with Peter Allen in 1976. Released in October 1978, from the album of the same name, the song peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1979.

Sager wrote the lyrics of “Better Than Ever,” “Easy For You” and “Starting Over” for the soundtrack of Alan J. Pakula's film, “Starting Over” (1979), “Don't Call It Love” for Blake Edwards' “10” (1979), “I'm On Your Side” for Robert Moore's “Chapter Two” (1979), “Fool That I Am” for Joseph Sargent's “Coast to Coast”(1980), “It's My Turn” for the Claudia Weill film of the same name, “Roses And Rainbows” for Steven Hilliard Stern's “The Devil and Max Devlin” (1981), and “Never Say Goodbye,” the theme from Michale Apted's “Continental Divide” (1981). It was not until she co-wrote with Christopher Cross, Burt Bacharach and Peter Allen, “Arthur's Theme (Best that You Can Do),” the theme to the 1981 film “Arthur,” starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli, that Sager eventually took home the 1982 Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. The song also brought her a 1982 Golden Globe for Best Original Song - Motion Picture and a 1991 ASCAP Film and Television Music for Most Performed Feature Film Standards. She also wrote the songs “Love is My Decision” and “Heart Light” for the 1988 sequel “Arthur 2: On the Rocks.”

Sager continued to work on film soundtracks throughout the remainder of 1980s, including “I Ought to Be in Pictures” (1982), “Night Shift” (1982), “Romantic Comedy” (1983), “Irreconcilable Differences” (1984), “ The Slugger's Wife” (1985), “Baby Boom” (1987), “3 Men and a Baby” (1987) and “Buster” (1988). She received a 1983 Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song - Motion Picture for the song “Making Love” from the Arthur Hiller 1982 movie of the same name, which she shared with Burt Bacharach and Bruce Roberts, and a 1987 Golden Globe nomination of the same category for the song “They Don't Make Them Like They Used to” from the film “Tough Guys” (1986), sharing with Bacharach and Kenny Rogers. She also wrote for television soundtracks such as “On Location: Robert Klein at Yale” (1982), “ The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “Fame” (1982-1984), to name a few.

After works on such films as “ Made in America” and “ Mr. Wonderful” (both 1993), Sager again received notice for writing the theme “The Day I Fall in Love” of “Beethoven's 2nd” (1993), with James Ingram and Clif Magness. Sung by Dolly Parton and James Ingram and produced by David Foster, the song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song, a Golden Globe for Best Original Song - Motion Picture, and a Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television.

A year later, Sager's song “Look What Love Ha Done,” performed by Patty Smyth, for the 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy vehicle “Junior” (1994) was nominated for an Oscar and a Godlen Globe for Best Music, Original Song, an honor she shred with James Newton Howard, James Ingram and Smyth. Sager wrote the songs “ When You Love Someone,” “You Love Who You Love” and “I Do” for the films “Forget” (1995), “Two If by Sea” (1996) and “Grace of My Heart” (1996), respectively. Next, Sager collaborated with David Foster for the soundtrack of the animated film “Quest for Camelot” (1998), which although it was not a commercial and critical success, the album did gain a definite level of praise. The song “The Prayer” won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1999 and also was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The same year, “Anyone At All,” the song she wrote and produced for the film “You've Got Mail” (1999), was nominated for a Golden Satellite for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture, sharing with Carole King. She also wrote the lyrics of Liza Minnelli's “Without You” for “AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars: America's Greatest Screen Legends” (1999) and was nominated for a 2000 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for her work. She shared the nomination with composer Marvin Hamlisch.

Sager kept on busy work throughout the new millennium. Her work could be found in such films as “How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog” (2000), “The Wedding Planner” (2001), “Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle” (2003), “ Lost in Translation” (2003), “ Intolerable Cruelty” (2003), “ Little Black Book” (2004) and “Shrek the Third” (2007). The song “ Grace Is Gone,” with music by Clint Eastwood, from the 2007 motion picture of the same name that was directed and written by James C. Strouse, brought her a 2007 Satellite Award for Best Original Song and a 2008 Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song - Motion Picture. Sager' also worked for television such as “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Friends,” “ The Sopranos,” “Will & Grace,” “It Takes Two,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Qwerty,” “30 Rock,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Saturday Night Live” and “El disco del año 10 .”

Apart from work on television and film, Sager has written lyrics for several stage productions. She made her stage debut as a lyricist on the musical “Georgy” in 1970. She went on to work on “Dancin'” (1978), on which she was credited as featured lyricist for “If It Feels Good, Let It Ride” and “Easy,” the musical “They're Playing Our Song” (1979), with music by Marvin Hamlisch and book by Neil Simon, the revue “Up in One “(1979), “ The Madwoman of Central Park West” (1979) and “Barbara Cook: A Concert for the Theatre” (1987). She also received a credits as a featured songwriter with Peter Allen on the 2003 musical “ The Boy from Oz.”

Awards:

• Satellite: Best Original Song, “Grace Is Gone,” For the song “Grace Is Gone,” 2007

• Hollywood Film: Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting, 2002

• Golden Globe : Best Original Song - Motion Picture, “Quest for Camelot,” For the song “The Prayer,” 1999

• ASCAP Film and Television Music: ASCAP Award, Most Performed Feature Film Standards, “Arthur,” For the song “Arthur's Theme (Best that You Can Do),” 1991

• ASCAP Film and Television Music: ASCAP Award, Most Performed Feature Film Standards, “The Spy Who Loved Me,” For the song “Nobody Does it Better,” 1989

• Academy Award: Best Music, Original Song, “ Arthur,” For the song “Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do),” 1982

• Golden Globe: Best Original Song - Motion Picture, “Arthur,” For the song “Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do),” 1982