Alan Bergman, the legendary lyricist behind some of Hollywood’s most beloved songs, has died at the age of 99. Known for his poetic collaborations with wife Marilyn Bergman, Alan passed away peacefully at his Los Angeles home late Thursday, his family confirmed on Friday.
Bergman’s legacy is defined by timeless classics such as The Way We Were, How Do You Keep the Music Playing?, and It Might Be You, songs that captured the hearts of generations and were immortalised by artists like Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Michael Jackson.
Streisand, a longtime collaborator and close friend, paid tribute to Bergman in an emotional Instagram post: “Alan was not only a prolific lyricist, and incredible husband, father and grandfather – he was family to me, a father figure… My last conversation with him was about a beautiful song he was still working on. At 99, his creative gifts still flowed.”
Bergman’s career spanned more than six decades, marked by an enduring partnership with Marilyn, whom he married in 1958. The duo earned three Academy Awards, including one for The Way We Were, the top-selling song of 1974, famously sung by Streisand in the romantic drama co-starring Robert Redford. Their other Oscars came for The Windmills of Your Mind from The Thomas Crown Affair and the score for Yentl (1983), which Streisand also directed.
The couple also earned 16 Oscar nominations, four Emmys, two Grammys, and countless lifetime achievement awards. Their lyrics were known for combining Tin Pan Alley sentiment with contemporary emotional depth, often writing lines that became part of pop culture’s emotional lexicon.
Beyond films, the Bergmans penned Broadway songs, TV themes such as those for Maude and Good Times, and even a symphonic work, Visions of America. Despite their fame, the couple lived largely out of the spotlight, letting their words and melodies speak for themselves.
Alan and Marilyn’s story was as lyrical as their work, born just four years apart in the same Brooklyn hospital, raised in the same neighbourhood, and moved to California in the same year. Their musical and romantic connection blossomed naturally, culminating in a body of work that has left a lasting mark on American music.