Marvin Hamlisch, the composer for "The Way We Were" died in Los Angeles on Monday. He was 68.
The famous composer collapsed after a brief illness and passed away, his family announced. There are no other details at this time.
Hamlisch was known as the "people's composer." He won several awards including four Grammys, four Emmys, three Oscars, three Golden Globes and a Tony for his work, making him one of only 11 people who earned all four major US performance awards.
During his career, Hamlisch composed more than forty movie scores, including the award winning score and song for "The Way We Were" and music for "The Sting." Some of his other scores were featured in "Sophie's Choice," "Ordinary People," "The Swimmer," "Three Men and a Baby," "Ice Castles," "Take the Money and Run," Bananas," "Save the Tiger," "The Informant!," and his latest project, "Behind the Candelabra."
He also composed music for several musicals including "A Chorus Line," for which he received the Pulitzer Prize, "They're Playing Our Song," "The Goodbye Girl" and "Sweet Smell of Success."
Hamlisch also held several positions as 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's death came as unexpected as he was set to head to Nashville to see his hit musical "The Nutty Professor" next week and he was working on a brand new Broadway show called "Gotta Dance." He was to be announced as the Principal Pops Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra next week. He was also supposed to conduct the New York Philharmonic in its upcoming New Year's Eve concert.
Hamlisch's talent for creating music was noticed early on. He was the youngest student to be admitted to Manhattan's Julliard School of Music. He auditioned for the school at age seven.
He is survived by Terre, his wife of 25 years.
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