Composer Marvin Hamlisch dies at 68 after brief illness

NEW YORK - Marvin Hamlisch was blessed with perfect pitch and an infallible ear. "I heard sounds that other children didn't hear," he wrote in his autobiography.

He turned that skill into writing and arranging compulsively memorable songs that the world was unable to stop humming - from the mournful "The Way We Were" to the jaunty theme from "The Sting."

Prolific and seeming without boundaries, Hamlisch, who died at 68 after a short illness, composed music for film heroes from James Bond and Woody Allen, for powerful singers such as Liza Minnelli and Aretha Franklin, and high-kicking dancers of the Tony-winning "A Chorus Line." To borrow one of his song titles, nobody did it better.

"He was a true musical genius, but above all that, he was a beautiful human being. I will truly miss him," said Barbra Streisand, who first met the composer in 1963 and sang his "The Way We Were" to a Grammy win in 1974. "It was his brilliantly quick mind, his generosity and delicious sense of humor that made him a delight to be around."

Hamlisch collapsed and died Monday in Los Angeles after a brief illness, publicist Ken Sunshine said, citing the family. Other details were not released.

The New York-born Hamlisch composed more than 40 film scores, including "Sophie's Choice," "Ordinary People," "The Way We Were" and "Take the Money and Run." His latest work came for Steven Soderbergh's "The Informant!"

Hamlisch became one of the most decorated artists in history, winning three Oscars, four Emmys, four Grammys, a Tony, a Pulitzer and three Golden Globes. The marquees of Broadway theaters in New York will be dimmed in his memory tonight at 8.

Hamlisch's Streisand connection brought him to Las Vegas in 1993, when he served as musical director and conductor for the singer's return to the concert stage at the MGM Grand Garden after 20 years in Hollywood. The two reunited at the MGM Grand for Streisand's millennium concerts.

But Hamlisch also had the Vegas spotlight to himself during several solo engagements. A 1997 appearance kicked off a cabaret series at Boulder Station.

Hamlisch also performed twice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas - once in 2000 and once in 2004 as part of UNLV's "Best of the New York Stage" series, where he performed at the piano and reminisced about his showbiz career.

At the 2004 concert, "The World of Marvin Hamlisch," the UNLV Symphony and Jazz Ensemble joined him in concert, accompanying such Hamlisch favorites as the Oscar-winning "The Way We Were" and "A Chorus Line."

During one UNLV show, Hamlisch recalled his first job as rehearsal pianist for Streisand's Broadway breakthrough, "Funny Girl," noting one particular job requirement: "If Barbra needed a doughnut, I got it."

Hamlisch also entertained Las Vegas audiences with question-and-answer sessions and a "rent-a-composer" segment, where he created impromptu songs inspired by audience suggestions.

Hamlisch was working on a new musical, "Gotta Dance," at the time of his death and was scheduled to write the score for a new Soderbergh film on Liberace, "Behind the Candelabra," starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.

He is survived by his wife of 25 years, Terre, a television producer.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal contributed to this report.