Leslie Bricusse, the Oscar-winning songwriter of the theme from Goldfinger and songs for Dr. Dolittle and Willy Wonka, has died.<\/b>
\nLeslie Bricusse, Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriter whose songs for Broadway and Hollywood include \u201cWhat Kind of Fool Am I?\u201d and \u201cPure Imagination,\u201d died Tuesday in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. He was 90. Bricusse wrote the lyrics for James Bond theme songs \u201cGoldfinger\u201d and \u201cYou Only Live Twice,\u201d as well as songs for movies including \u201cWilly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,\u201d including \u201cThe Candy Man,\u201d \u201cScrooge,\u201d \u201cHook,\u201d \u201cDoctor Dolittle\u201d and \u201cSuperman.\u201d His close friend, Dame Joan Collins, announced the death on Instagram this morning, calling him \u201cone of the giant songwriters of our time.\u201d Bricusse\u2019s son Adam also announced it on Facebook; neither indicated a cause of death. Over seven decades, the London-born writer-composer was in demand for his clever, witty and tuneful songs, sometimes in collaboration with others (notably Anthony Newley in London, Henry Mancini and John Williams in Los Angeles) and sometimes serving as both lyricist and composer. He won the 1967 best song Oscar for \u201cTalk to the Animals,\u201d from the Fox musical \u201cDoctor Dolittle,\u201d and the 1982 song-score Oscar for the musical \u201cVictor \/ Victoria,\u201d written with Mancini. His Grammy was for song of the year in 1963, \u201cWhat Kind of Fool Am I,\u201d written with Newley for the West End musical \u201cStop the World \u2013 I Want to Get Off.\u201d The Bricusse-Newley song score for \u201cWilly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory\u201d was Oscar-nominated in 1971, but curiously not for its best-known tunes, the Gene Wilder-sung \u201cPure Imagination,\u201d now among the most familiar and beloved songs of its time. \u201cThe Candy Man,\u201d from the same score, was a hit song for Sammy Davis Jr. Yet both his song \u201cThank You Very Much,\u201d and the musical it was written for, \u201cScrooge,\u201d based on Dickens\u2019 \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d starring Albert Finney, were Oscar-nominated and are more popular now than when they debuted in 1970. \u201cDolittle,\u201d \u201cScrooge\u201d and \u201cVictor \/ Victoria\u201d were all later adapted for the legit stage. Bricusse moved back and forth from stage to screen. In addition to \u201cStop the World,\u201d which opened in London in 1961 and on Broadway in 1962 (with Newley starring in both), he wrote \u201cThe Roar of the Greasepaint \u2013 The Smell of the Crowd,\u201d also with Newley, a U.K. production that enjoyed bigger success on Broadway in 1965. \u201cWho Can I Turn To,\u201d from that show, was a hit for Tony Bennett; \u201cA Wonderful Day Like Today\u201d is now a standard and \u201cFeeling Good\u201d was recorded by numerous artists including Nina Simone. With Cyril Ornadel, he also wrote \u201cPickwick\u201d for the West End in 1963; on his own, \u201cSherlock Holmes: The Musical,\u201d with Ron Moody as Conan Doyle\u2019s famed detective, in 1988; and with Frank Wildhorn, he penned both book and lyrics for \u201cJekyll & Hyde: The Musical,\u201d which reached Broadway in 1990; \u201cSammy,\u201d about the life of Sammy Davis Jr.,\u201d workshopped off and on since 2007; and \u201cCyrano,\u201d which debuted in Japan in 2009. He was a five-time Tony nominee for \u201cStop the World\u201d (musical, book, score), \u201cRoar of the Greasepaint\u201d (score) and \u201cJekyll & Hyde\u201d (book). He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989. For the big screen, he wrote the Oscar-nominated musical \u201cGoodbye, Mr. Chips,\u201d with Peter O\u2019Toole, in 1969; and, with Mancini, the songs for \u201cSanta Claus\u201d in 1985. He and Newley also wrote a \u201cPeter Pan\u201d musical for TV in 1976. Bricusse loved collaborating with composers who loved melody. With John Barry, he wrote lyrics for the James Bond thrillers \u201cGoldfinger\u201d and \u201cYou Only Live Twice.\u201d With Mancini, he added the words for \u201cTwo for the Road\u201d and the Oscar-nominated \u201cLife in a Looking Glass\u201d for \u201cThat\u2019s Life.\u201d For Jerry Goldsmith, he wrote lyrics for songs from \u201cThe Sand Pebbles\u201d and \u201cIn Like Flint.\u201d And for John Williams, he penned the words for \u201cCan You Read My Mind\u201d from \u201cSuperman\u201d and the Oscar-nominated \u201cSomewhere in My Memory\u201d from \u201cHome Alone\u201d and \u201cWhen You\u2019re Alone\u201d from \u201cHook.\u201d Educated at Cambridge, he was president of its Footlight Revue Club and founded the Musical Comedy Club; there he also co-wrote, directed and performed in his first two musicals, \u201cOut of the Blue\u201d and \u201cLady at the Wheel,\u201d both of which made their way to the West End in the 1950s. He performed with Beatrice Lillie at the Globe Theatre and wrote his first film, \u201cCharley Moon,\u201d in 1956. Bricusse, who had homes in Beverly Hills, London and France, is survived, in addition to his son, by his wife Evie. There is no word about a memorial service.<\/p>\n