Alan Bergman has died at 99, closing the curtain on a legacy that reshaped the American songbook. He passed away peacefully at home in Los Angeles on July 17, with his daughter Julie by his side. Though he’d faced respiratory issues in recent months, he never stopped writing—still chasing melodies and lyrics until his final days.
His name may not always have been front and center, but his words were. With unforgettable songs like The Way We Were, Papa, Can You Hear Me?, and the Good Times theme, Bergman left his fingerprints on generations of music lovers. His work earned him four Emmys, two Grammys, and three Oscars—each a reminder of how deeply his lyrics resonated with audiences across film and television.
At the heart of his extraordinary career was his lifelong partner in both music and marriage, Marilyn Bergman. Together, they penned hundreds of songs, writing face-to-face across the room in a rhythm that became second nature. In the next sections, we’ll walk through that partnership, their married life, and the family they built along the way.
Alan Bergman’s Wife and Musical Partner Marilyn
Alan Bergman first crossed paths with Marilyn in the late 1950s, thanks to a twist of fate and a shared love for songwriting. At the time, he had just returned to Los Angeles from Philadelphia, where he had been directing TV shows and writing lyrics on the side.
Encouraged by legendary songwriter Johnny Mercer to fully pursue his musical ambitions, Alan began working with composer Lew Spence. It was through Spence that Alan met Marilyn, another lyricist already working alongside him. The three clicked immediately. As Marilyn later told PEOPLE, “Before you knew it, the three of us had written a song together.”
What began as a musical partnership turned into something deeper. After six months of working together, Alan and Marilyn traveled to New York to discuss a Broadway opportunity. They ultimately passed on the project, but the trip changed everything. “When we came back, we were an item,” Alan recalled.
They married in 1958 and welcomed their daughter, Julie, two years later. By the age of five, Julie had already picked up on her parents’ curious, creative process. “Every morning, my mother and father go into a room,” she described her parents at five. “Sometimes there’s music playing, and sometimes there isn’t. Most of the time, they just sit around, and somebody pays them.”
The Bergmans went on to write hundreds of songs together, including award-winning hits like The Way We Were and The Windmills of Your Mind. Their collaboration was intimate, fluid, and deeply personal. “We always wrote facing each other, never side by side,” Alan shared in 2022. “The role of the creator and editor would change within seconds… I can’t do that anymore. I toss [ideas] in my head.”
Marilyn Bergman’s Death
Marilyn died on January 8, 2022, at the age of 93. She passed away at her Los Angeles home, surrounded by Alan and their daughter Julie. The cause of death was respiratory failure, unrelated to COVID-19.
A trailblazer in her own right, Marilyn was a music major at New York’s High School of Music and Art before studying psychology and English at NYU. Her lyrics earned her Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys, and in 1980, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Who Is Alan and Marilyn’s Daughter, Julie Bergman?
Julie Bergman Sender is the daughter of Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and a seasoned independent filmmaker with deep roots in both studio production and socially driven documentary work.
Her credits include The Garden, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Feature Documentary, and Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World, a primetime NBC special produced in collaboration with HRH The Prince of Wales.
Julie is married to filmmaker and media strategist Stuart Sender. Together, they run Balcony Films, a Los Angeles-based production and consulting firm known for award-winning films and media campaigns. The couple has one daughter, Emily Sender. Julie continues to live in Los Angeles with her family, balancing creative work with global advocacy around environmental and social issues.
