Oscar-winning lyricist Alan Bergman, who worked with his wife, Marilyn, in a partnership that produced hits such as "The Way We Were," "It Might Be You" and "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?," has died, his family announced.He was 99. The family's spokesman, Ken Sunshine, said the legendary lyricist died late Thursday night at his Los Angeles home with his daughter, writer and film producer Julie Bergman, present."Bergman suffered from respiratory issues in recent months, but continued to write songs till the very end," Sunshine said in a statement.The Bergmans married in 1958 and remained together until Marilyn's death in 2022.
With collaborators ranging from Marvin Hamlisch and Quincy Jones to Michel Legrand and Cy Coleman, they were among the most successful and prolific partnerships of their time, providing words and occasional music for hundreds of songs, including movie themes that became as famous as the films themselves. Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Tony Bennett and many other artists performed their material, and Barbra Streisand became a frequent collaborator and close friend. Blending Tin Pan Alley sentiment and contemporary pop, the Bergmans crafted lyrics known by millions, many of whom would not have recognized the writers had they walked right past them.Among their most famous works: the Streisand-Neil Diamond duet "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," the well-named Sinatra favorite "Nice 'n' Easy" and the topical themes to the 1970s sitcoms "Maude" and "Good Times." Their film compositions included Ray Charles' "In the Heat of the Night" from the movie of the same name, Noel Harrison's "The Windmills of Your Mind" from "The Thomas Crown Affair," and Stephen Bishop's "It Might Be You" from "Tootsie."The whole world seemed to sing and cry along to "The Way We Were," an instant favorite recorded by Streisand for the 1973 romantic drama of the same name that co-starred Streisand and Robert Redford.
Set to Hamlisch's tender, bittersweet...