Alan Bergman, the Oscar-winning lyricist who teamed with his wife, Marilyn, for an enduring and loving partnership that produced such old-fashioned hits as 鈥淗ow Do You Keep the Music Playing?,鈥 鈥淚t Might Be You鈥 and the classic 鈥淭he Way We Were,鈥 has died at 99.
Bergman died late Thursday at his home in Los Angeles, family spokesperson Ken Sunshine said in a statement Friday. The statement said Bergman had, in recent months, suffered from respiratory issues 鈥渂ut continued to write songs till the very end.鈥
The Bergmans married in 1958 and remained together until her 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, 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 鈥淵ou Don鈥檛 Bring Me Flowers,鈥 the well-named Sinatra favorite 鈥淣ice 鈥檔鈥 Easy鈥 and the topical themes to the 1970s sitcoms 鈥淢aude鈥 and 鈥淕ood Times.鈥 Their film compositions included Ray Charles鈥 鈥淚n the Heat of the Night鈥 from the movie of the same name; Noel Harrison鈥檚 鈥淭he Windmills of Your Mind,鈥 from 鈥淭he Thomas Crown Affair鈥; and Stephen Bishop鈥檚 鈥淚t Might Be You,鈥 from 鈥淭ootsie.鈥
The whole world seemed to sing and cry along to 鈥淭he Way We Were,鈥 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鈥檚 tender, bittersweet melody, it was essentially a song about itself 鈥 a nostalgic ballad about nostalgia, an indelible ode to the uncertainty of the past, starting with one of history鈥檚 most famous opening stanzas: 鈥淢emories / light the corners of my mind / misty watercolor memories / of the way we were.鈥
鈥淭he Way We Were鈥 was the top-selling song of 1974 and brought the Bergmans one of their three Oscars, the others coming for 鈥淲indmills of Your Mind鈥 and the soundtrack to 鈥淵entl,鈥 the Streisand-directed movie from 1983. At times, could be mistaken for a Bergman showcase. In 1983, three of the nominees for best song featured lyrics by the Bergmans, who received 16 nominations in all.
The Bergmans also won two Grammys, four Emmys, were presented numerous lifetime achievement honors and received tributes from individual artists, including Streisand鈥檚 2011 album of Bergman songs, 鈥淲hat Matters Most.鈥 On 鈥淟yrically, Alan Bergman,鈥 Bergman handled the vocals himself. Although best known for their movie work, the Bergmans also wrote the Broadway musical 鈥淏allroom鈥 and provided lyrics for the symphony 鈥淰isions of America.鈥
Their very lives seemed to rhyme. They didn鈥檛 meet until they were adults, but were born in the same Brooklyn hospital, four years apart; raised in the same Brooklyn neighborhood, attended the same children鈥檚 concerts at Carnegie Hall and moved to California in the same year, 1950. They were introduced in Los Angeles while working for the same composer, but at different times of the day. Their actual courtship was in part a story of music. Fred Astaire was Marilyn鈥檚 favorite singer at the time and Alan Bergman co-wrote a song, 鈥淭hat Face,鈥 which Astaire agreed to record. Acetate in hand, Bergman rushed home to tell Marilyn the news, then proposed.
Bergman is survived by a daughter, Julie Bergman, and granddaughter.
Bergman had wanted to be a songwriter since he was a boy. He majored in music and theater at the University of North Carolina, and received a master鈥檚 from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he befriended Johnny Mercer and became a protege. He and Marilyn at first wrote children鈥檚 songs together, and broke through commercially in the late 1950s with the calypso hit 鈥淵ellowbird.鈥 Their friendship with Streisand began soon after, when they visited her backstage during one of her early New York club appearances. 鈥淒o you know how wonderful you are?鈥 was how Marilyn Bergman greeted the young singer.
The Bergmans worked so closely together that they often found themselves coming up with the same word at the same time. Alan likened their partnership to housework: one washes, one dries, the title of a song they eventually devised for a Hamlisch melody. Bergman was reluctant to name a favorite song, but cited 鈥淎 Love Like Ours鈥 as among their most personal:
鈥淲hen love like ours arrives / We guard it with our lives / Whatever goes astray / When a rainy day comes around / A love like ours will keep us safe and sound.鈥