Hollywood is in grief over the death of one of its biggest songwriters. Alan Bergman, the writer of some of the most memorable film tunes, has d!ed at 99.
His spokesperson confirmed that he passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles on Thursday, 17 July, in the presence of his daughter, Julie Bergman.
The phenomenal career of Bergman was more than 60 years. Alan composed music that came to define generations and touched the hearts of everyone with such evergreen songs as The Way We Were, Papa, Can You Hear Me?, and theme songs of some of the most iconic shows in television history, such as Good Times and Maude, with his late wife and songwriting partner, Marilyn Bergman.
The Bergmans together earned three Academy Awards, four Emmys, and two Grammys, a rather uncommon musical achievement that not many had reproduced.
A Musical Life
Alan Bergman was born in 1925 in Brooklyn, New York; however, he found his love of music in his younger years. At the age of 12, he had the desire to compose songs.
During one of the interviews that Alan did in 2014, he revealed, “If you were Jewish and lived in Brooklyn, you were getting yourself to the piano.”
He would sit in front of the radio and listen to the big bands play and imagining that someday he would write such beautiful music himself.
Alan entered the world of music following his graduation at the University of North Carolina. He continued his graduate education at UCLA as a music student but got slightly diverted into television for a short time as a sports and music show director. Nevertheless, he could never resist the magnet of songwriting.
Los Angeles is where Alan met his future wife, Marilyn, and their creative voyage started. It did not take long for the two to realize that they had musical chemistry, and soon enough their friendship only grew into love.
In 1958 they got married, and in 1960 they gave birth to their daughter Julie.
A Magical Partnership
Originally the Bergmans worked on writing songs that were performed by children, in nightclubs, and on television, but later they shifted to Hollywood films.
They got the big break when they wrote the song called The Windmills of Your Mind in 1968 when it was posted on the movie called The Thomas Crown Affair, which won them their first Oscar.
The song that made them world-famous was the most iconic one, The Way We Were, released in 1973 as a part of the movie of the same title, in which Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford were the protagonists.
Not only did the song earn them another Oscar, it also won the hearts of millions of people and became a classic.
One of their closest collaborators was Barbra Streisand, who made references in her works to how they wrote songs that had strong emotional stories behind them.
The Bergmans collaborated with Streisand on other projects, such as Yentl, in which their tunes, Papa, Can You Hear Me? and The Way He Makes Me Feel were also successful with critics.
A Life of Awards
The accolades continued to flow during their life spans. More than any other songwriting team in history, Alan and Marilyn received over 15 Oscar nominations, including a third Oscar: the score of Yentl.
The Bergmans also claimed four Emmy Awards in addition to their Oscars. They composed catchy TV theme music, such as the ones for Good Times, Maude, and The Sandy Duncan Show.
They were the popular people in Hollywood because they would write catchy and meaningful lyrics.
The Bergmans received recognition of their status as all-time greats in music when they were inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1979.
In 2013, the Recording Academy gave them a Trustee Award in recognition of their enduring impact on the music business.
Life After Marilyn
Alan Bergman is a writer who has written after the death of Marilyn in 2022 at the age of 93. Alan did not give up on songwriting, though he lost his lifetime partner, who made songwriting less lonely.
In a later interview, Alan said what life was like without Marilyn: “We always wrote facing one another… I no longer have the capability to do that. I now bounce ideas around in my mind, but at least fortunately, they are still emerging.”
Alan enjoyed spending time with his family as well. He departs, leaving his youngest daughter, Julie, a writer and producer, and his granddaughter Emily, who just finished her master’s in global food studies.
A Lasting Tradition
The songs of Alan Bergman will always live to resound in the ears of people to remind them how music can speak about humans.
His songs ranged in styles, atmospheres, and tones, but they all contained a touch of love, loss, and hope, which can bind all the people of the world.
The family will have a small graveside event. His fans and admirers, on the other hand still celebrate his great contribution to entertainment and do not forget about him being not only a songwriter but a man who brought heart and soul to the Hollywood music.
It is true that Alan Bergman did not only write songs but memories, as one fan said beautifully: Alan Bergman wrote memories. May his tunes live forever.”
Alan Bergman Rest in peace; you will always be remembered through your music.
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