LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Award-winning lyricist and composer, Marilyn Bergman died Saturday, January 8 at her home in Los Angeles, according to her daughter Julie Bergman. She was 93. Her representive, Jason Lee reported to NBC News she passed of respiratory failure not related to COVID-19 and her husband, Alan Bergman was at her bedside.
Bergman and her collaborator husband Alan, was nominated for 16 Academy Awards over the course of her career, winning three. The song “The Way We Were” from the Barbara Streisand movie of the same name was one of those Oscar wins, which also won two Grammys. The collaborating team of the Bergmans also won two other Oscars for their songs, “Windmills of Your Mind” and the score for Yentl, which also starred Streisand. Adding to the talented duo’s tally is four Emmys and two Golden Globes.
The Bergmans married in 1958 and were covered by some of the world’s greatest singers, from Aretha Franklin to Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson. Their collaborations struck gold time and time again as they helped write the themes to “Maude” and “Good Times”, Dean Martin’s classic “Sleep Warm” and Sinatra’s song, “Nice ‘n’ Easy”, just to name a few. They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980.
CelebrityAccess received a statement from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) President and Chairman, songwriter Paul Williams:
“It is with deep sadness that I personally, and all of ASCAP, mourn the passing of Marilyn Bergman — one of the greatest lyricists who ever lived and truly ASCAP royalty. She was a brilliant songwriter who together with her husband, Alan Bergman, gave us some of the most beautiful and enduring lyrics of all time. She was a tireless and fierce advocate for music creators not only during her term as President and Chairman of ASCAP but throughout her life. Our community will miss her intelligence, her wit and her wisdom. Alan — we mourn with you and your family.”
She is survived by her loving husband Alan and their daughter Julie.
