Marilyn Bergman, the Oscar-, Emmy- and Grammy-winning songwriter whose lyrics graced such hits as “The Way We Were,” “The Windmills of Your Mind,” “In the Heat of the …
, the Oscar-, Emmy- and Grammy-winning songwriter whose lyrics graced such hits as “The Way We Were,” “The Windmills of Your Mind,” “In the Heat of the Night” and the songs from “Yentl,” has died. She was 94 years old.
She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, majored in music at New York’s High School of Music & Art, then studied at NYU. While still in high school, she often played piano for lyricist Bob Russell . He encouraged her to consider songwriting as a profession. “In the Heat of the Night,” sung by Ray Charles, was their big breakthrough film, working with composer Quincy Jones in 1967. Numerous films with Legrand followed, including “The Thomas Crown Affair,” “The Happy Ending,” “Pieces of Dreams,” “Summer of ’42,” “Best Friends” and “Yentl,” many of which yielded hit songs.
With Grusin, the Bergmans also wrote the TV themes for “Maude” and “Good Times.” They won Emmys for the score of the 1975 TV musical “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom” , a song for “Sybil” and two songs for Barbra Streisand for 1990s TV specials .