Born in New York City; educated at Julliard (music) and Queens College, NY. Began scoring films in 1968 with THE SWIMMER (although he wrote songs for 1965's SKI PARTY) and, within five years, had won three Oscars® for his work on THE WAY WE WERE (1973) and THE STING (1973). Though capable in a number of idioms, Hamlisch is particularly adept at incorporating a pop sensibility into his compositions. He scored Broadway's A Chorus Line (1975) They're Playing Our Song, (1979), Smile (1986), The Goodbye Girl (1993) and Sweet Smell of Success (2002). Hamlisch has won a Tony® Award, a Pulitzer Prize and a Drama Desk Award (all for 1976's A Chorus Line) and four Grammys®. He has composed extensively for television and has been nominated for six Emmys®, winning four times. He was named to the National Council on the Arts in 1988. Other notable film scoring and songwriting credits (alone or in collaboration) include TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN (1969), BANANAS and KOTCH (both 1971), SAVE THE TIGER (1972), THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE (1974), THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977), SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR (1978), STARTING OVER, ICE CASTLES and CHAPTER TWO (all 1979), ORDINARY PEOPLE, SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES and GILDA LIVE (all 1980), I OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES and SOPHIE'S CHOICE (both 1982), ROMANTIC COMEDY (1983), D.A.R.Y.L. and A CHORUS LINE (both 1985), THREE MEN AND A BABY (1987), LITTLE NIKITA (1988), JANUARY MAN, SHIRLEY VALENTINE and THE EXPERTS (all 1989), FRANKIE AND JOHNNY and MISSING PIECES (1991) and OPEN SEASON (1995), and THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES (1996.  Nominated for Music Best Song 1971: KOTCH "Life Is What You Make It" - Music  Music Scoring Awards (Best Scoring: Original Song Score and/or Adaptation) 1973: THE STING  Music Scoring Awards (Best Original Dramatic Score) 1973: THE WAY WE WERE  Music Best Song 1973: THE WAY WE WERE "The Way We Were" - Music  Nominated for Music Scoring Awards (Best Original Score) 1977: THE SPY WHO LOVED ME  Nominated for Music Best Song 1977: THE SPY WHO LOVED ME "Nobody Does It Better" - Music  Nominated for Music Best Song 1978: SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR "The Last Time I Felt Like This" - Music  Nominated for Music Best Song 1979: ICE CASTLES "Theme from Ice Castles ('Through the Eyes of Love')" - Music  Nominated for Music Scoring Awards (Best Original Score) 1982: SOPHIE'S CHOICE  Nominated for Music Best Song 1985: A CHORUS LINE "Surprise, Surprise" - Music  Nominated for Best Achievement in Music (Original Song) 1989: SHIRLEY VALENTINE "The Girl Who Used To Be Me" - Music  Nominated for Best Achievement in Music (Original Song) 1996: THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES "I Finally Found Someone" - Music & Lyric (w. Barbra Streisand, Bryan Adams & Robert "Mutt" Lange) 12 nominations, 3 Awards