The 1980 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee died Saturday morning surrounded by her husband and daughter.
Marilyn Bergman -- an award-winning lyricist with Oscars, GRAMMYs and Emmys to her name throughout her storied career that included an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 -- has died. She was 93.
According to multiple reports, Bergman died early Saturday morning at her Los Angeles home with her husband and partner, Alan Bergman, and their daughter, Julie Bergman, by her side. The cause of death was respiratory failure that was not related to COVID-19.
Bergman and her husband were a driving force in Hollywood, racking up 16 Academy Award nominations. They won three Oscars for the tracks "The Windmills of Your Mind" in The Thomas Crown Affair, "The Way We Were" in the Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford film that shared the same title, and the score to Streisand's Yentl.
Streisand took to Twitter following Bergman's death and said Bergman was "like family." The singer also called the wife-husband duo "brilliant lyricists." Streisand added, "We met over 60 years ago backstage at a little night club, and never stopped loving each other and working together. Their songs are timeless, and so is our love. May she rest in peace."
Some of the other songs that notched Bergman an Oscar nomination included "Papa Can You Hear Me?" and "The Way He Makes Me Feel," as well as "It Might Be You" from Tootsie.
Bergman and Alan also have four Emmys, three GRAMMYs and two Golden Globes. Her other notable accomplishments included becoming the first woman elected to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) board of directors in 1985. She'd go on to be elected president and chairman of the board nine years later.
In a statement to ET, ASCAP president Paul Williams exalted Bergman as "one of the greatest lyricists who ever lived and truly ASCAP royalty."
"She was a brilliant songwriter who together with her husband, Alan Bergman, gave us some of the most beautiful and enduring lyrics of all time," the statement continued. "She was a tireless and fierce advocate for music creators not only during her term as President and Chairman of ASCAP but throughout her life. Our community will miss her intelligence, her wit and her wisdom. Alan -- we mourn with you and your family."
The famed writer and producer Norman Lear took to Twitter to mourn the loss of a dear friend.
"There was only one Marilyn Bergman," he wrote. "No one knew that more than her husband and partner in music, Alan. To those of us who loved the Bergman's lyrics, Marilyn takes a bit of our hearts and souls with her today."
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