NEW YORK (AP) — Friends and admirers of Marvin Hamlisch including former President Bill Clinton and Liza Minnelli gathered
Tuesday to bid farewell to the celebrated songwriter hailed as "the
people's composer."

Clinton
called Hamlisch, whose casket was covered in his favorite yellow
freesias, a "great, giving genius." Sir Howard Stringer, chairman of Sony Corp., called him "the merriest of minstrels."

Hamlisch died Aug. 6 in Los Angeles after a short illness. He was 68.

Other guests included ex-Yankee manager Joe Torre, Kelli O'Hara, Ann-Margret, Raul Esparza, Robert Klein, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Leslie Uggams, Richard Gere, Tony Danza, Kathie Lee Gifford and Diane Sawyer and her husband Mike Nichols, the film and stage director. Idina Menzel sang "At the Ballet."
"Genius
is rare enough, but a good-hearted genius is rarer still. A
good-hearted, humble and hilarious genius is almost unheard of," said
Clinton.
Hamlisch composed or arranged hundreds of scores for musicals and movies, including "A Chorus Line" on Broadway and the films "The Sting," ''Sophie's Choice," ''Ordinary People" and "The Way We Were."
His
funeral was held at Congregation Emanu-El, a prominent Manhattan
synagogue where legendary songwriter George Gershwin's funeral was held
in 1937.

Speakers, including
composer Richard Kagan, cosmetics executive Leonard Lauder and socialite
Lily Safra, described a friend always willing to help a good cause, who
was a bashful philanthropist and a devoted Yankee fan who would ask for
the latest scores before stepping onstage.

A
choir that included fellow composers, lyricists and musicians such as
Lucie Arnaz, Rupert Holmes and Sheldon Harnick, sang "The Way We Were"
and "What I Did for Love." Statements of mourning were read from
President Barack Obama and former first lady Nancy Reagan.
Hamlisch
is survived by his wife of 26 years, Terre, who took the podium and
shared memories of a man whose "life force was huge." He was likely to
cheer her up in the morning by jumping on top of the bed and performing
an entire musical — complete with music, lyrics, all the parts and the
dancing chorus — "to the disbelief of myself and our dogs."
"Marvin
taught me how to live life with gusto and magic," she said. "He would
order every dessert on the menu so everyone could taste everything and
miss nothing in life."
Hamlisch, who became the youngest person
accepted by The Juilliard School at age 7, became one of the most
decorated artists in history, winning three Oscars, four Emmys, four
Grammys, a Tony, a Pulitzer and two Golden Globes.
His
versatility, classic melodies and ear for musical hooks meant he was as
comfortable writing songs for Barbra Streisand as he was for a light
Woody Allen comedy like "Bananas." His wrote the torch song "Nobody Does
It Better" for the James Bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me" and the
soundtrack for Steven Soderbergh's quirky 2009 comedy "The Informant!"
He
wrote everything from the title song for the TV series "Brooklyn
Bridge" to the stunning score for the movie "The Swimmer" to the
symphonic suite "Anatomy of Peace." He also wrote the original theme
song for ABC's "Good Morning America."
Hamlisch received both a
Tony and the Pulitzer for "A Chorus Line" — the second longest-running
American show in Broadway history — and wrote the music for other stage
hits such as "The Goodbye Girl" and "Sweet Smell of Success."
Hamlisch's
reach extended into the pop world, writing the No. 1 R&B hit "Break
It to Me Gently" with Carole Bayer Sager for Aretha Franklin. He
co-wrote "One Song" sung by Tevin Campbell and produced by Quincy Jones,
and "I Don't Do Duets" sung by Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight.
He
was working on a new musical, "Gotta Dance," at the time of his death
and was scheduled to write the score for a new Soderbergh film on
Liberace, "Behind the Candelabra," starring Michael Douglas and Matt
Damon. In Nashville, Tenn., the Tennessee Performing Arts Center is
producing his new musical production of "The Nutty Professor," directed
by Jerry Lewis.

Hamlisch also
enjoyed holding a baton, conducting orchestras in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee,
Dallas, Seattle and San Diego, among others. At the time of his death,
he was to be announced as the principal pops conductor of the
Philadelphia Orchestra. And on New Year's Eve, he was to conduct a
concert with the New York Philharmonic.

Outside
the synagogue, Uggams recalled Hamlisch's great sense of humor, while
Danza called him "one of the truly greats." Torre said: "I was probably
just as much a fan of his as he was of mine."

Esparza
remembered auditioning for "Sweet Smell of Success" as a young actor.
He didn't get a part, but Hamlisch stopped him later at a restaurant and
told him he wished they had cast him and thought Esparza was going to
be huge. "You know what? For a guy who is starting out, to hear that
from Marvin Hamlisch at a diner, that's huge."