MARVIN HAMLISCH - A MAJOR STAR

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/