One of film and show music's greatest, composer, conductor and pianist Marvin Hamlisch has died August 6, after a short illness, at age 68. He is best known for the score from "The Way We Were" and his adaptation of Scott Joplin's music in "The Sting" (who doesn't remember "The Entertainer"?). These two films also brought him three Academy Awards; he had nine more nominations between 1972 and 1997, most of them in the "Best Original Song" category.

Mr. Hamlisch also composed several Broadway musicals, with the biggest success among them being 1975's "A Chorus Line" (later made into a movie in 1986).

His diverse work made him one of only eleven people so far to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award all in a competitive category.

With him, film and show music has lost one of its greatest names. He is survived by his wife.

I owned the piano sheet music for 'The Sting' and loved the music. I could play most of the tunes, although nowhere near as well as Marvin could.

I loved when he did a cameo in "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days".

When I was about 13 years old I bought the soundtrack to "The Sting" and it was my favorite album for awhile. I still love all the music and could also play the title song on the piano but only at an elementary level.

edited to add: I don't know how to play the piano, but I loved that piece so much I taught myself that one song. Besides chopsticks, it's the only thing I can play.