Alan Menken

Alan Irwin Menken is an American songwriter and music composer, popularly known for working for Walt Disney Animation Studios in movies like Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Little Mermaid (1989), Alddin (1992), etc. Menken is the second most profuse Oscar Award winner, with eight in his bag. Apart from that, he has also had the honour of winning a Tony Award and 11 Grammy Awards. Menken was born to Judith and Norman Menken on 22nd July 1949. He had a deep interest in music as a child and composed a track named ’Bouree’ at the age of 9. Before graduating with a degree in Musicology from New York University, he used to attend New Rochelle High School.

After working with short films and TV shows, Menken got his first breakthrough when he was hired as the music composer for ‘God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater,’ a Howard Ashman’s film based on a Kurt Vonnegut with the same name. After experiencing some successful years, he was hired along with Ashman by the Disney Walt Studios to work on Little Mermaid (1989). Apart from the Oscars and Grammys, he was recognized for the Richard Kirk Career Achievement Award in 1998. In 2013, he won The Oscar Hammerstein Award and the Freddie G. Award for Musical Excellence in the same year.