About Don Black (lyricist)
Donald Blackstone, known professionally as Don Black, is an English lyricist. His works have included numerous musicals, movie, television themes and hit songs. He has provided lyrics for John Barry, Charles Strouse, Matt Monro, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Quincy Jones, Hoyt Curtin, Lulu, Jule Styne, Henry Mancini, Meat Loaf, Michael Jackson, Robbie Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Michel Legrand, Hayley Westenra, Ennio Morricone, A. R. Rahman, Marvin Hamlisch and Debbie Wiseman. Black's first film work was the lyrics for the theme of the James Bond feature Thunderball (1965). Black's film work culminated when he collaborated with Barry on the title song of 1966's Born Free, which won the Oscar for Best Song and provided a hit for Matt Monro. When it became a US hit, he relented and had the film reprinted, commenting to Black, "It grows on you," after the song won the Oscar. This was later adapted for a Broadway production starring Bernadette Peters, for which she won a Tony award as Best Actress in a Musical.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.