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Since he first emerged in the mid-'70s, Marvin Hamlisch has been one of the top composers in film, theater, and popular music. As holder of numerous gold record awards for his soundtrack and cast recordings, and the composer of some of the most well-known songs ever cut by Barbra Streisand and Lesley Gore, among many others, he is among the few "stars" in the world of popular music, composition, and songwriting to achieve major public recognition since the emergence of rock music in the '60s. Born in New York in 1944, Marvin Hamlisch grew up on Manhattan's Upper West Side. His father was an accordionist and bandleader specializing in dance music and Hamlisch showed a fascination with music at an early age. At age 5, Hamlisch was mimicking the music he heard on the radio on the piano, and he began lessons a year later. At age 7, he auditioned for the Juilliard School of Music by transcribing the then-current hit "Goodnight Irene" into different keys spontaneously, on demand from the p...