Marvin Hamlisch: R.I.P.

Marvin Hamlisch, who composed the scores for dozens of movies including The Sting and won a Tony for A Chorus Line, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 68, after a brief illness.

Composer Marvin Hamlisch won three Oscars, four Emmys and a Tony Award. Hamlisch's career included composing, conducting and arranging music from Broadway to Hollywood. Hamlisch composed more than 40 film scores and songs, including The Spy Who Loved Me, Sophie's Choice, The Sting, The Way We Were, Ordinary People and Take the Money and Run. He won his third Oscar for his adaptation of Scott Joplin's music for The Sting.

On Broadway, Hamlisch received the Pulitzer Prize for long-running favorite A Chorus Line and wrote The Goodbye Girl and Sweet Smell of Success.

As recently as last month, Mr. Hamlisch was working on a musical adaptation of the Jerry Lewis comedy The Nutty Professor, for which he wrote the score. His press representatives said he was also working on a new Broadway musical called Gotta Dance, and had written the score for an upcoming HBO movie, Behind the Candelabra, about the life of Liberace.

Hamlisch was principal pops conductor for symphony orchestras in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Dallas, Pasadena, Seattle and San Diego. He was to be announced to the same position with the Philadelphia Orchestra and also was due to lead the New York Philharmonic during its upcoming New Year's Eve concert.

He leaves behind a legacy in film and music that transcended far beyond notes on the page. As illustrative as the scenes playing out in front of the music, his scores helped define some of Hollywood's most iconic works.