Oscar-winning composer Sammy Fain, whose classic love ballads included "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" and "I'll Be Seeing You," has died of a heart attack. He was 87.

Fain, who was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won two, died Wednesday at the UCLA Medical Center, said Ken Sunshine, a publicist for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

During a career that stretched from New York's Tin Pan Alley to Broadway and Hollywood, Fain wrote some of America's most memorable pop hits. Many Fain titles bring instant recognition: "Secret Love," Let A Smile Be Your Umbrella," "Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine" and "Tender is the Night" among them.

Fain's collaborators included lyricists Samm Cahn, Irving Kahal, Bob Hilliard, Harold Adamson, Lew Brown, Paul Francis Webster, Mitchell Parish, E.Y. Hapburg, and Alan and Marilyn Bergman.

View Comments

Fain is survived by a son, Frank, of New York.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.