Composer Marvin Hamlisch Passes Away at 68

According to a family spokesperson, composer Marvin Hamlisch passed away Monday evening at 68 years old following a brief illness.

Hamlisch, one of only eleven EGOT winners in the history of the entertainment industry, was awarded three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony and three Golden Globe awards for his work. On Broadway, he wrote the music for A Chorus Line - which received the Pulitzer Prize - as well as They’re Playing Our Song, The Goodbye Girl and Sweet Smell of Success.

He is the composer of more than forty motion picture scores including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were and his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s music for The Sting, for which he received a third Oscar. His prolific output of scores for films include original compositions and/or musical adaptations for Sophie’s Choice, Ordinary People, The Swimmer, Three Men and a Baby, Ice Castles, Take the Money and Run, Bananas and Save the Tiger.

Marvin Hamlisch held the position of principal pops conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Pops, Seattle Symphony and San Diego Symphony.

Hamlisch was Musical Director and arranger of Barbra Streisand’s 1994 concert tour of the U.S. and England as well as of the television special, Barbra Streisand: The Concert (for which he received two of his Emmys).

Hamlisch's latest Broadway-bound venture, a musical adaptation The Nutty Professor, recently opened in Nashville. Hamlisch, who is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and Queens College, is survived by his wife Terre.

"Music is truly an international language," Hamlisch told BroadwayWorld in July. "It has the ability to bring people together like nothing else." Take a look back at Hamlisch's extraordinary career here.

More Articles by This Author...