MARVIN HAMLISCH:THE AMERICAN musician Marvin Hamlisch, who has died aged 68 after a short illness, won three Oscars, four Emmys, four Grammys and a Tony award in the course of composing A Chorus Line and a host of movie soundtracks, including The Sting and The Way We Were.
Barbra Streisand, who starred in the latter film alongside Robert Redford, praised Hamlisch for "his brilliantly quick mind, his generosity and delicious sense of humour, which made him a delight to be around".
Hamlisch began his professional career working as a rehearsal pianist for Streisand's Broadway show Funny Girl. A meeting with film producer Sam Spiegel led to his first film score, for The Swimmer (1968), and he then worked on the early Woody Allen movies Take the Money and Run (1969) and Bananas (1971).
By the early 1970s, Hamlisch was on a spectacular creative streak and swept the board at the 1974 Oscars. He won two statuettes for his work on The Way We Were, for best original score and best original song. He earned his third Oscar for the score for the Robert Redford/Paul Newman smash The Sting from Scott Joplin's ragtime music, featuring The Entertainer as the main theme. Meanwhile, The Way We Were also brought him four Grammys.
The following year, Hamlisch achieved his ambition to write a Broadway show by creating the music for A Chorus Line, with lyrics by Edward Kleban. An instant success, the show was nominated for 12 Tony awards and won nine, including best musical and best score, and in 1976 won the Pulitzer prize for drama, a rare accolade for a musical.
Hamlisch exhibited his impeccable pop craftsmanship with Nobody Does It Better, the theme song for the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, on which he collaborated with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager. He continued to compose soundtracks, including Robert Redford's Ordinary People, and Sophie's Choice.
Hamlisch was born in New York to Jewish-Viennese parents, Lilly and Max Hamlisch. His passed on a powerful musical gene to his son, who was born with perfect pitch and began playing piano at five.
He was accepted into the junior division of New York's Juilliard School before he turned seven. He cited among his chief inspirations the musicals My Fair Lady, Gypsy and West Side Story. Hamlisch would work as arranger on several Liza Minnelli albums.
Hamlisch regularly conducted "pops" concerts. These allowed him, a popular chatshow guest, to show off his skills as wit and raconteur alongside his musicianship.
At the time of his death, Hamlisch had been due to travel to Nashville to see a production of his musical The Nutty Professor, an adaptation of the Eddie Murphy movie. Also in the works was Gotta Dance, and Hamlisch had completed the music for Soderbergh's forthcoming film about Liberace, Behind the Candelabra, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. He is survived by his wife of 24 years, Terre Blair.- (Guardian service)
Marvin Hamlisch, composer and songwriter: born June 2nd, 1944; died August 6th, 2012