Art Garfunkel (born Arthur Ira Garfunkel on 5 November 1941 in Forest Hills, Queens, NYC, USA) is an American singer and actor, best known as half of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel. He is of Romanian Jewish ancestry. He met his future singing partner, Paul Simon, in the sixth grade. Between 1956 and 1962, the two had performed together as Tom & Jerry. Garfunkel ("Tom Graph") chose his nickname because he liked to track, or "graph" hits, on the pop charts.