Courtesy Photo - Marvin Hamlisch |
MARVIN HAMLISCH – A MAJOR STAR
MARVIN HAMLISCH through the years has given us such
wonderful music. Gee, when he wrote “Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows” he was
just 21 years old (Lesley Gore recording). It reached number 13 on the
Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1965. Hamlisch wrote music and songs for
Woody Allen’s films such as “Take the Money and Run” among many other
treasures.
He also wrote adaptations of Scott Joplin’s ragtime much for
the film “The Sting”. He worked with a favorite of his -- Johnny Mathis in live
performances on occasions – and Mathis also recorded many of his classic
Hamlisch song compositions in the studio.
Hamlisch went on to get awards of all kinds. He had success
with the scores for “Ordinary People”, “Sophie’s Choice” and for the film
version of “A Chorus Line.” He also composed the score for the 1975 Broadway
musical “A Chorus Line” For that he won a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize.
I met him a few times at the magnificent Fairmont Venetian
Room. He recently appeared there last year at the “Bay Area Cabaret.” After a
brief illness Hamlisch died on Aug. 6, 2012, in Los Angeles, at the age of 68.
His music will endure forever. Barbara Streisand praised Hamlisch, stating that
it was “his brilliantly quick mind, his generosity and delicious sense of humor
that made him a delight to be around.”
At 8’o’clock in the evening (August 8), the lights of 40
Broadway theatres were dimmed for one minute in tribute to Hamlisch. So Sad –
and much too soon. It won’t seem like “Old Times anymore!”
A TRIBUTE TO ONE OF THE GREATS!
(((Lee Hartgrave has contributed many articles to the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Datebook and he produced a long-running Arts Segment on PBS - KQED)))
http://leehartgraveforallevents.blogspot.com/
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