Alan Bergman, Oscar-winning lyricist who helped write ‘The Way We Were,’ dies at 99
Jul 18, 2025, 7:42 AM
FILE - Marilyn and Alan Bergman pose at their piano in their Beverly Hills home on March 17, 1980. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Lennox McLendon, File)
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 “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?,” “It Might Be You” and the classic “The Way We Were,” 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 “but continued to write songs till the very end.”
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, and Barbra Streisand became a frequent collaborator and close friend.
