Personal life

Shaiman was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Claire (née Goldfein) and William Robert Shaiman. He grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, but dropped out at age 16 to start working in New York's theaters. He lives in both Los Angeles and New York City.

Shaiman married Lieutenant Commander Louis Mirabal on March 26, 2016.

Career

Shaiman started his career as a theatre/cabaret musical director. He then became vocal arranger for Bette Midler, eventually becoming her musical director and co-producer of many of her recordings, including "The Wind Beneath My Wings" and "From a Distance." He helped create the material for her performance on the penultimate The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. His work with both Bette Midler and Billy Crystal led to his involvement on their films.

His film credits include Broadcast News, Beaches, When Harry Met Sally..., City Slickers, The Addams Family, Sister Act, Sleepless in Seattle, A Few Good Men, The American President, The First Wives Club, George of the Jungle, In & Out, Patch Adams, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Team America: World Police, Flipped, and HBO's From the Earth to the Moon, and 61*. He frequently works on films by Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner. He has also appeared in many of these films.

Shaiman has earned five Academy Award nominations, a Tony Award and a Grammy Award for his work on the musical Hairspray, and an Emmy Award for co-writing Billy Crystal's Academy Award performances. He has also been Grammy nominated for his arrangements for Harry Connick Jr.'s recordings When Harry Met Sally... and We Are in Love as well as Hairspray and Smash and Emmy nominated for his work on Saturday Night Live and Smash. In 2002, he was honored with the "Outstanding Achievement in Music-In-Film" award at The Hollywood Film Festival, and in 2007 he was honored with ASCAP's Henry Mancini Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions to the music of film and television. He is the first recipient of the Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Comedy Feature Film.

Fans of Saturday Night Live may recognize Shaiman as Skip St. Thomas, the accompanying pianist for The Sweeney Sisters, a singing duo played by Nora Dunn and Jan Hooks, which earned him an Emmy nomination. He began his professional relationships with Billy Crystal and Martin Short during his tenure at Saturday Night Live. He wrote and sang the song "Yes" for his agent's film Finding Kraftland. He co-wrote (with partner Wittman) songs for Neil Patrick Harris when Harris hosted the 63rd Tony Awards (2009) and the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards (2009) and was Emmy nominated for musical directing and co-writing the 82nd Academy Awards (2010).

Shaiman co-produced and co-wrote cuts on Mariah Carey's 2010 Christmas album Merry Christmas II You.

Shaiman wrote original songs for the musical-based television show for NBC, Smash, as well as served as Executive Producer. For their song "Let Me Be Your Star," Shaiman and co-lyricist Scott Wittman were nominated for both an Emmy Award and a Grammy Award, and as Executive Producers they were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical.

Shaiman and co-lyricist Wittman supplied the score for the new musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical, currently playing London's West End. The show has broken box-office house records at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and an Original West End Cast recording was released.

Shaiman co-wrote Billy Crystal's farewell to Jay Leno which featured Carol Burnett and Oprah Winfrey among others. He has now collaborated on the final performances for Johnny Carson's Tonight Show (with Bette Midler), Conan O'Brien's Late Night (with Nathan Lane), both of Jay Leno's final Tonight Show broadcasts, and Nathan Lane's farewell to David Letterman called "Dead Inside."

Shaiman & Wittman were honored on April 28, 2014 by The New York Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Shaiman produced Bette Midler's latest recording, It's the Girls, which had the highest debut of Midler's recording career on the Billboard Album charts.

Shaiman appeared on The Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, having co-created Martin Short & Maya Rudolph's salute to musical sketch characters.

Jennifer Hudson sang Shaiman & Wittman's Smash song "I Can't Let Go" at the 87th Academy Awards, which they revised to fit the In Memoriam section.

Activism

In 2008 a controversy erupted nationwide when California Musical Theatre's then artistic director resigned over the revelation of his personal donation of $1000 to a political campaign to support California proposition 8. The proposition—which would amend the state constitution to limit marriage between a man and woman—passed, and donor information became public. Shaiman and other Broadway artists who had previously worked with the director became critical and called for a boycott of the theatre by all gay artists and performers ending in the director's resignation days later.

To protest the passage of California Proposition 8 in November 2008, Shaiman wrote a satiric mini-musical called Prop 8 — The Musical. The 3-minute video was distributed on the internet at FunnyOrDie.com beginning on December 3, 2008. It was written and produced in just a few days. The cast includes Jack Black (who plays Jesus), Neil Patrick Harris, John C. Reilly, Allison Janney, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph, Margaret Cho, Rashida Jones and other celebrities. Shaiman plays the piano and appears briefly on the video. It received 1.2 million internet hits in its first day.

Filmography

• Broadcast News (1987)
• Big Business (1988)
• Beaches (1988)
• When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
• Misery (1990)
• Scenes from a Mall (1991)
• City Slickers (1991)
• The Addams Family (1991)
• Hot Shots! (1991) (actor)
• For the Boys (1991)
• Sister Act (1992)
• Mr. Saturday Night (1992)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• Sleepless in Seattle † (1993)
• Heart and Souls (1993)
• Life with Mikey (1993)
• Addams Family Values (1993)
• Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)
• City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994)
• North (1994)
• Speechless (1994)
• That's Entertainment! III (1994)
• Stuart Saves His Family (1995)
• Forget Paris (1995)
• The American President † (1995)
• Bogus (1996)
• Mother (1996/II)
• The First Wives Club † (1996)
• Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
• George of the Jungle (1997)
• In & Out (1997)
• My Giant (1998)
• Simon Birch (1998)
• Patch Adams †(1998)
• The Out-of-Towners (1999)
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut † (1999)
• The Story of Us (1999) with Eric Clapton
• The Kid (2000)
• Get Over It (2001)
• One Night at McCool's (2001)
• The Wedding Planner (2001)
• Bowling for Columbine (2002)
• Down with Love (2003)
• Alex & Emma (2003)
• Marci X (2003)
• The Cat in the Hat (2003)
• Team America: World Police (2004; songs only, score was rejected and replaced by Harry Gregson-Williams)
• Rumor Has It... (2005)
• Hairspray (2007)
• The Bucket List (2007)
• Flipped (2010)
• The Magic of Belle Isle (2012)
• Parental Guidance (2012)
• And So It Goes (2014)

† = Oscar Nominee

Television

• Bette Midler - Mondo Beyondo (1982)
• Saturday Night Live (1984-1985)
• Saturday Night Live (1986-1987)
• Comic Relief (1986)
• Billy Crystal: Don't Get Me Started (1986)
• Billy Crystal: Don't Get Me Started - The Lost Minutes (1988)
• I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood (1989)
• What's Alan Watching? (1989)
• Billy Crystal: Midnight Train To Moscow (1990)
• The 62nd Academy Awards (1990)
• The 63rd Academy Awards (1991)
• The 64th Academy Awards (1992)
• The 65th Academy Awards (1993)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1993)
• The 69th Academy Awards (1997)
• Bette Midler in Concert: Diva Las Vegas (1997)
• The 70th Academy Awards (1998)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1998)
• The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1997)
• From the Earth to the Moon part eleven (1998)
• Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary (1999)
• The 72nd Academy Awards (2000)
• South Park - Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics (1999)
• Get Bruce (1999)
• Jackie's Back (1999)
• Bette (2000)
• 61* (2001)
• South Park episode - "Cripple Fight" (2001)
• Greg the Bunny (2002)
• Charlie Lawrence (2003)
• The Score with Phil Ramone (2003)
• The 57th Annual Tony Awards (2003)
• Biography - Bette Midler (2004)
• The 76th Academy Awards (2004)
• The 77th Academy Awards (2005)
• The 79th Academy Awards (2007)
• The 63rd Tony Awards (2009)
• The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards (2009)
• The 82nd Academy Awards (2010)
• Smash (2012)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (February 6, 2014)
• Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special (2015)
• The 87th Academy Awards (2015)

Theatre

Broadway Peter Allen:Up in One (1979) Bette! Divine Madness (1980) André DeShields's Haarlem Nocturne (1984) Leader of the Pack (1985) An Evening with Harry Connick Jr. and Orchestra (1990) Patti LuPone on Broadway (1995) Hairspray (2002) The Odd Couple (2005) Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me (2006) Catch Me If You Can (2009)

West End Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical (2013) Off-Broadway Dementos - The Production Company Livin' Dolls - Manhattan Theatre Club Legends - Ahmanson Theatre Trilogy of Terror - Club 57 Non Pasquale - Delacorte Theatre

Internet

• Prop 8 - The Musical (2008) (Composer, Lyricist, Pianist) 2009 "Webby" winner-Best Comedy:Short or Individual Episode

Discography

Mariah Carey Merry Christmas II You Bette Midler Thighs and Whispers Mud Will Be Flung Tonight Some People's Lives Experience the Divine Bette Bathhouse Betty It's the Girls! Harry Connick, Jr. We Are in Love Peter Allen Making Every Moment Count

Soundtracks The Addams Family The Addams Family Values Beaches When Harry Met Sally... For the Boys A Few Good Men Sister Act Sleepless in Seattle North The American President The Out-of-Towners South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics The Story of Us Alex & Emma Rumor Has It… Hairspray The Bucket List Original Broadway cast recordings Hairspray Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me Catch Me If You Can Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical (West End Musical)

Concert/cabaret work

• Peter Allen
• Jack Black & Will Ferrell
• Kristin Chenoweth
• Rosemary Clooney
• Harry Connick Jr.
• Billy Crystal
• Christine Ebersole
• Ellen Foley
• Whoopi Goldberg
• Annie Golden
• The Harlettes
• The High-Heeled Women
• Lauryn Hill
• Jennifer Holliday
• Allison Janney
• Laura Kenyon
• Nathan Lane
• Jenifer Lewis
• Ute Lemper
• Darlene Love
• Patti LuPone
• Lypsinka
• Ann Magnuson
• Andrea Martin
• Lonette McKee
• Bette Midler
• Catherine O'Hara
• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Zora Rasmussen
• Ann Reinking
• Debbie Shapiro Gravitte
• Martin Short
• Barbra Streisand
• Donald Trump
• Tracey Ullman
• Luther Vandross
• Bruce Vilanch
• Steven Webber
• Robin Williams
• Raquel Welch

[ Source: Wikipedia ]