Alan Bergman, Oscar-winning lyricist who helped write 'The Way We Were,' dies at 99
Bergman died late on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles, family spokesperson Ken Sunshine said in a statement on Friday. The statement said Bergman had, in recent months, suffered from respiratory issues "but continued to write songs till the very end.'
The Bergmans married in 1958 and remained together until her death, in 2022. With collaborators ranging from Marvin Hamlisch and Quincy Jones to Michel Legrand and Cy Coleman, they were among the most successful and prolific partnerships of their time, providing words and occasional music for hundreds of songs, including movie themes that became as famous as the films themselves.
Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Tony Bennett and many other artists performed their material, and Barbra Streisand became a frequent collaborator and close friend.
Alan and Marilyn Bergman arrive at the 26th annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards in Hollywood, California April 22, 2009. File/Reuters
Sunshine said that there will still be a centennial celebration of Alan Bergman as planned at Santa Monica's Broad Stage, with guests including Michael Feinstein, Jackson Browne and Patti Austin. Feinstein, among the many artists who posted tributes Friday, wrote that the Bergmans were "kind, talented and principled artists' who "lived from a place called Love.'
Blending Tin Pan Alley sentiment and contemporary pop, the Bergmans crafted lyrics known by millions, many of whom would not have recognized the writers had they walked right past them. Among their most famous works: the Streisand-Neil Diamond duet "You Don't Bring Me Flowers,' the well-named Sinatra favorite "Nice 'n' Easy' and the topical themes to the 1970s sitcoms "Maude' and "Good Times.' Their film compositions included Ray Charles' "In the Heat of the Night' from the movie of the same name; Noel Harrison's "The Windmills of Your Mind,' from "The Thomas Crown Affair'; and Stephen Bishop's "It Might Be You,' from "Tootsie.'
The whole world seemed to sing and cry along to "The Way We Were,' an instant favorite recorded by Streisand for the 1973 romantic drama of the same name that co-starred Streisand and Robert Redford. Set to Hamlisch's tender, bittersweet melody, it was essentially a song about itself - a nostalgic ballad about nostalgia, an indelible ode to the uncertainty of the past, starting with one of history's most famous opening stanzas: "Memories / light the corners of my mind / misty watercolor memories / of the way we were.'
Associated Press
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