Art Garfunkel

Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel.

Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainted with Simon through an elementary school play, a production of Alice in Wonderland. Their combined presence in music began in the 1950s, and throughout the 1960s the duo of Simon & Garfunkel achieved great chart success with tracks such as "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson" (written for the 1967 film The Graduate), "Scarborough Fair", "The Boxer" and "Bridge over Troubled Water". The last song's title also served as the name of Simon & Garfunkel's final album in 1970. Simon & Garfunkel split for personal reasons, but the pair have occasionally reunited in the years since. Both experienced success solo in the years following their breakup.

Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career in the US include one top 10 hit, three top 20 hits, six top 40 hits, 14 Adult Contemporary top 30 singles and five Adult Contemporary number ones. He scored two UK number ones and a People's Choice Award. Through his solo and collaborative work, Garfunkel has earned eight Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1990, he and Simon were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008, Garfunkel was ranked 86th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Garfunkel was born on November 5, 1941 in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, to Rose (née Pearlman) and Jacob "Jack" Garfunkel, a traveling salesman. Art was a middle child with two brothers, the older Jules and the younger Jerome. Jacob's parents had emigrated to the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century and settled in Manhattan. Before his career in sales, Jacob worked as an actor in Dayton, Ohio. Garfunkel is of Jewish-Romanian descent. When he was young, he often sang in synagogue.

Garfunkel's love of singing originated in the first grade. "When we were lined up in size order, and after everyone else had left, I'd stay behind and enjoy the echo sound of the stairwell tiles and sing "Unchained Melody" and "You'll Never Walk Alone", learning to love this goosebumps song from the tender age of five." Later, Garfunkel's father bought him a wire recorder, and from then on, Garfunkel spent his afternoons singing, recording, and playing it back, so he could listen for flaws and learn how to improve.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.