Marvin Hamlisch Biography Quotes 6 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch was born on June 2, 1944, in New York City to Viennese immigrant parents who had fled Europe before the Second World War. His father, Max, a working musician and bandleader, recognized the boy's unusual ear and set him at the piano almost as soon as his hands could span the keys. A natural mimic who could reproduce melodies he heard on the radio, Hamlisch was accepted into the Juilliard School's preparatory division at age seven, beginning a rigorous musical training that shaped his touch at the keyboard and his instinct for melody. New York provided the rest: Broadway orchestras, rehearsal rooms, and recording studios became the laboratories where his early professionalism was forged.

Apprenticeship and Breakthrough
As a teenager, Hamlisch found practical work as a rehearsal pianist and coach, most notably on Funny Girl, the 1964 Broadway musical starring Barbra Streisand. In those rooms he learned how songs move a story, how to write for voices, and how to speak the language of directors and producers. Streisand, an artist with whom he would collaborate for decades as music director and arranger, became one of the central figures in his professional life. The blend of his conservatory technique and the hustle of Broadway soon propelled him into film and record work.

Film and Popular Music
Hamlisch's ascent in the 1970s was swift. In 1973 he scored The Way We Were for director Sydney Pollack and wrote its indelible title song with lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman, sung by Streisand. The same year he adapted Scott Joplin's ragtime for The Sting, transforming The Entertainer into a modern hit and bringing early American popular music back into vogue. Those achievements culminated in a historic Oscar night, sealing his reputation as a composer whose tunes could both define a film and stand alone on the radio.

He continued to bridge cinema and pop. With Carole Bayer Sager he crafted Nobody Does It Better, the James Bond theme from The Spy Who Loved Me, and Through the Eyes of Love for Ice Castles, songs carried to audiences by Carly Simon and other leading vocalists. Decades later he returned to the screen with Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!, reaffirming his flair for character-driven scoring, and his final film work reached viewers posthumously with Behind the Candelabra.

Broadway and the Pulitzer
Hamlisch's most influential theater work arrived with A Chorus Line (1975), conceived and directed by Michael Bennett with a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante and lyrics by Edward Kleban. Its intimate portrait of dancers built from workshops at Joseph Papp's Public Theater, its rhythmic drive, and its aching ballads changed the sound and structure of the Broadway musical. The show earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama alongside major theater awards, placing Hamlisch among the rare composers whose work reshaped the form.

He followed with a series of stage projects that underscored his collaborative range: They're Playing Our Song, with a book by Neil Simon and lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager; Smile with Howard Ashman; The Goodbye Girl with David Zippel and Neil Simon; and Sweet Smell of Success with John Guare and Craig Carnelia. Not every title matched the scale of A Chorus Line, but each deepened his understanding of dramatic storytelling and his rapport with writers, directors, and performers.

Conductor and Musical Ambassador
Alongside composing, Hamlisch became a sought-after conductor and concert presenter, championing the American songbook and film music with an easy, raconteur's presence onstage. He held principal pops posts with major American orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Pasadena POPS, and he frequently appeared as guest conductor across the United States and abroad. In this role he bridged symphonic institutions and popular audiences, often inviting singers he knew from Broadway and Hollywood to share the stage, and he tirelessly advocated for music education and accessible programming.

Personal Life
In 1989 Hamlisch married Terre Blair, a television journalist and producer who became his closest partner and confidante. Their life together, split between New York and Los Angeles as projects demanded, anchored a career that otherwise moved at a relentless pace. Friends and collaborators such as Barbra Streisand, the Bergmans, Michael Bennett, and Carole Bayer Sager formed a professional family around him, sustained by mutual trust and a shared belief in the power of a well-turned song.

Honors and Legacy
Hamlisch joined a small fraternity of artists to achieve the rare quartet of major awards: he won multiple Grammys, Emmys, and Academy Awards, a Tony for his theater work, and, uniquely among such peers, shared a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The list of honors is less telling than the durability of the music: The Way We Were and Nobody Does It Better retain their emotional pull; the revival life of A Chorus Line continues to introduce new generations to his stage writing; and his concert work helped canonize film scores as repertoire. Colleagues often remarked on his generosity in rehearsals and his meticulous ear, qualities that encouraged singers and orchestras to give their best.

Final Years
Hamlisch remained in constant motion into the 2010s, balancing orchestral podiums, stage development, and film assignments. He was still programming concerts and nurturing new theater projects when he died on August 6, 2012, in Los Angeles, at age 68. Tributes poured in from across the entertainment world: Streisand remembered a lifelong collaborator; the Bergmans saluted a musical soulmate; and the Broadway community honored a composer who had given voice to its dreamers. Marvin Hamlisch's career traced a singular arc through American music, from the rehearsal rooms of Broadway to the soundstages of Hollywood and the podiums of great orchestras, and his melodies continue to live where he most wanted them to be heard: onstage, onscreen, and in the hearts of audiences.

Our collection contains 6 quotes who is written by Marvin, under the main topics: Music - Learning - Work Ethic.