“Forgotten Hollywood”- Marvin Hamlisch / Judith Crist Dies…

Posted on August 7, 2012 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

   One of the most prolific composers for the stage and cinema has died. Marvin Hamlisch joins Richard Rodgers as the only one in music history to ever win an Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Grammy, and a Pulitzer Prize. You can also add two Golden Globes accomplishments.

   He wrote scores for two early Woody Allen films: Take the Money and Run and Bananas. He additionally created the musical soundtrack for Save the Tiger; The April Fools; The Spy Who Loved MeSame Time Next Year; Kotch; Sophie’s Choice; Ordinary People; Three Men and a Baby; and of course, The Way We Were; Ice Castles; and the Scott Joplin-adapted score for The Sting. His Broadway music score from A Chorus Line was also transferred to the screen.   MARVIN HAMLISCH (by Shel Secunda)

   Though known for his movie scores, Hamlisch was influenced by Broadway musicals, including My Fair Lady, Gypsy, West Side Story, and Bye Bye Birdie. Early in his career, he wrote songs performed by teen-idol Lesley Gore — Sunshines Lollipops and Rainbows and California Nights; the latter by the singer on the television series Batman. He began a writing collaboration with Carole Bayer Sager, which led to his first marriage.

   Marvin Hamlisch also took his show on the road, as the musical director for tours by Linda Ronstadt and Barbra Streisand. And for a time, he held the position of Principal Pops Conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony OrchestraMilwaukee Symphony OrchestraSan Diego Symphony, Seattle SymphonyDallas Symphony Orchestra, and Pasadena Symphony and Pops. He was due to lead the New York Philharmonic during the upcoming 2013 New Year’s Eve concert.

   Marvin was working on a new musical, Gotta Dance; and he was scheduled to complete the score for a new Stephen Soderbergh bio-pic on Liberace, Behind the Candelabra, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.

   Marvin Hamlisch was 68.

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   Judith Crist was a scathing film critic who worked for the Today show on NBC; TV Guide; the New York Magazine; the New York Herald Tribune, and the New York Post. Along with Pauline Kael, Andrew Sarris, and Gene Shalit, Crist developed a nationwide following from their roots in The Big Apple.

    Crist’s early influence stemmed from a love of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Favorite classics include Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold RushGone With the WindThe Grapes of Wrath, and everything produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Judith later helped further the careers of Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese. But, it was negative words that made Crist popular with her readers. Among her noted targets: Some Like It HotSpencer’s Mountain; Hurry SundownCleopatra; and the rise in popularity of Italian cinema. Her friends were A-list Hollywood types… Bette Davis, Woody Allen, and director Joseph Mankiewicz. She played herself in a cameo in Stardust Memories.             JUDITH CRIST

   In 1963, Crist was awarded an Alumni Award by the Journalism School Alumni Association from Columbia University. She was a member of their Executive Committee, and served three terms as President of the Alumni Association during the 1960s.

   Judith Crist was 90.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

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