Paul Hampton

Paul Hampton is an American actor and singer who also writes lyrics. He attended Dartmouth College, where in his second year Columbia Records and Columbia Pictures both signed him to write songs with Hal David and Burt Bacharach. In 1960 he and Bacharach wrote and recorded Two Hour Honeymoon. He later co-wrote hits for Don Gibson, Gene Pitney and Johnny Tillotson, among them Sea of Heartbreak and Donna Means Heartbreak. He wrote and sang the theme to My Mother the Car as Albuquerque, and he made the albums Beautiful Beginnings and Rest Home for Children. His film career started in 1958 with Senior Prom. Later roles came in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Hit! (1973), Shivers (1975) and More Dead Than Alive, while his television work included The Doris Day Show, Benson and the award-winning Never Forget. Sea of Heartbreak earned him an ASCAP award and appeared in several film soundtracks. In 2008 Idina Menzel recorded his song Hope.