Another Jewish wunderkind who made good in Hollywood3

Marvin Hamlisch,1944-2012

By Arlene Stolnitz

This is the last article in this year’s music series in which I have focused on Jewish musicians who came to the U.S. just prior to WWII. Many of them became well known in the United States after their initial start in Hollywood. As well-trained musicians in Europe, the “Hollywood opportunity” allowed them to establish themselves in the music world of their newly adopted country.

Looking back throughout the past year, I have researched and followed the careers of just a few of the “greats!” — Ernest Gold, Andre Previn, Randy Newman, Gyorgy Ligeti and Burt Bachrach have been part of this series. My hope is that, by reading these articles, I have whet your appetite to learn more about these and other musical geniuses. There are many others I plan to write about in the future. Musicians such as Johnny Mandel, Laslo Shifrin, Dave Grisman, Bernard Herrmann and Philip Glass are just a few names that come to mind.

In this article, I will focus on Marvin Hamlisch, who, like Elmer Bernstein before him, was born in this country, but whose parents were lucky enough to emigrate to the U.S. just prior to the Holocaust. I was surprised to find out that, unlike Burt Bacharach, Hamlisch had a very close identity as a Jew! In a 2012 interview in The Jewish Press , a weekly Brooklyn newspaper, he spoke of his deep feelings for Jewish music. Hamlisch attributes these strong feelings, especially for the sadness in Jewish music, to his Viennese parents. In the article, he claimed he is proudly Jewish. “I never hid it from anyone,” he said. “In fact, I’ve candidly announced it on nationwide television. People … never discouraged me from proclaiming my Jewish identity to them.”

Like so many other child prodigies, Hamlisch’s talent showed up at an early age. By the time he was 6 years old, his parents had enrolled him in a precollege course at Julliard, which he won in an audition! Hamlisch was encouraged by his father, Max Hamlisch, an accordionist and bandleader, and his mother, Lilly. Hamlisch grew up hearing the music of his father’s band, composed of his father’s fellow AustroHungarian emigre friends. They played both Viennese and American popular music. When talking about his musical training, he would often credit Julliard and Queens College for the flexibility they gave him in his early career as a songwriter and composer.

Looking through his accomplishments, it is clear that Marvin Hamlisch has won every award in the world of musical comedy and film — four Emmys, four Grammys, three Oscars, three Golden Globe Awards, a Tony and the Pulitzer Prize (for “A Chorus Line”). We remember him for memorable songs such as “Nobody Does It Better,” “The Way We Were,” “What I Did For Love,” and so many others.

In addition to his talent, Marvin Hamlisch also had a greater humanitarian goal. On his website, he states, “Music can make a difference. There is a global nature to music, which has the potential to bring all people together. Music is truly an international language.”

In that regard, the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards were established in 2013 in partnership with Queens College and the Kupferberg Center for the Arts. Their vision is to discover and encourage young composers worldwide.

Marvin Hamlisch passed away in August 2012. Like Burt Bacharach, when we lost Marvin Hamlisch, we lost a musical genius, but are fortunate to be able to have the legacy of his passion for music.

Arlene Stolnitz, a retired educator, has been a regular contributor to Federation papers in Southwest Florida. Her interest in all kinds of Judaic music has led to this series of articles.