Presidents honour composer Marvin Hamlisch
15 August 2012, 10:47 | Updated: 15 August 2012, 11:02
A host of stars turned out in force to celebrate the life of film music composer Marvin Hamlisch yesterday, including President Obama and Bill Clinton.
President Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Liza Minnelli, and Broadway star Idina Menzel were among those to pay their respects at Marvin Hamlisch’s funeral yesterday in Manhattan. The Academy Award-winning film composer died on 6 August, aged 68, following a short illness.
President Obama and former first lady Nancy Reagan read statements of mourning, and a choir including fellow composers, lyricists and musicians performed Hamlisch’s songs ‘What I Did for Love’ from A Chorus Line and ‘The Way We Were’.
Hamlisch composed and arranged scores for musicals and films, including The Sting, Sophie’s Choice, and Ordinary People. At the time of his death, he was working on a new score for Behind the Candelabra, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.
Bill Clinton described the composer as a ‘great, giving genius’.
