Alan Menken
Composer
Composer who wrote the scores for several beloved Disney films, including 1989's The Little Mermaid. He won two Academy Awards for Best Original Song and Best Original Score for Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas.
His first major success was with the legendary musical Little Shop of Horrors, written with frequent collaborator Howard Ashman.
His other notable works included A Christmas Carol from 2004, Enchanted from 2007, Tangled from 2010, and Mirror Mirror from 2012.
He was born into a Jewish family to Judith and Norman Menken, who was a dentist. He married Janis Roswick in 1972, with whom he fathered two daughters.
His first major professional production was God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater from 1979. He based it on the Kurt Vonnegut Jr. novel of the same name.