He won an Academy Award for his adaptation of Scott Joplin's music for The Sting and a Tony Award for A Chorus Line. Now Marvin Hamlisch, who composed the scores for more than 40 movies and numerous Broadway productions, has passed away at age 68.

Over the years he took home two more Academy Awards, four Emmys, and three Golden Globes. His film work included The Spy Who Loved Me, The Way We Were, Ordinary People, Three Men and a Baby, and Sophie's Choice, among others.

According to the Associated Press, “Family spokesman Jason Lee said Hamlisch died Monday after a brief illness. Other details aren't being released.”

“As recently as last month, Mr. Hamlisch was working on a musical adaptation of the Jerry Lewis comedy The Nutty Professor, for which he wrote the score,” The New York Times reported.

He held the title of principal pops conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Pasadena Symphony and Pops, the Seattle Symphony and the San Diego Symphony.

“Music can make a difference,” Hamlisch had said in a quote posted on his website. “There is a global nature to music, which has the potential to bring all people together. Music is truly an international language, and I hope to contribute by widening communication as much as I can.”