Alan Bergman, the Oscar-, Grammy- and Emmy-winning lyricist who co-wrote timeless classics such as 'The Way We Were' and 'The Windmills of Your Mind', died on Thursday night at his home in Los Angeles. He was 99.
Bergman formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in Hollywood with his wife Marilyn, who died in January 2022. Together, they penned hundreds of songs for film and television, bridging the Great American Songbook era with modern pop sensibility. Their poetic lyrics, set to music by legendary composers like Michel Legrand and Marvin Hamlisch, earned them three Academy Awards and numerous nominations.
Among their most famous works are 'The Windmills of Your Mind' from 'The Thomas Crown Affair' (1968), the title song from 'The Way We Were' (1973), and 'In the Heat of the Night'. Bergman also contributed TV themes for 'Maude', 'Good Times', and 'Alice', and won Emmys for 'Queen of the Stardust Ballroom' and other projects.
Songwriter Paul Williams, ASCAP president, paid tribute: 'Alan Bergman was in a rarified class as a lyricist. Together with Marilyn, he crafted elegant rhymes and unforgettable imagery that are forever etched in our memories.'
