First Tributes of 2022

This first week of 2022 was such a sad week in the world of entertainment.  I'm paying tribute with music, and invite you to join me tomorrow for my normal Music Moves Me post.

Three of the highlights:

We lost actor Sidney Poitier Thursday evening at the age of 94.  Many of his films explored race relations, a topic that is, sadly, still way too relevant in our world of 2022.  His many movies included two greats from 1967, "In the Heat of the Night" and "Guess Whose Coming to Dinner".  As a director, his accomplishments included the comedy "Stir Crazy", which starred Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.

One of his best loved movies was "To Sir With Love" (also from 1967), where he played a man who took a job in a tough London school when he couldn't get a job using his engineering degree. Scottish singer Lulu sang the theme song "To Sir with Love",  which became a #1 hit, and one of my favorite songs of that year.

We also lost lyricist Marilyn Bergman, half of a songwriting team with her husband Alan, at the age of 93.  She wrote or co wrote lyrics to many acclaimed songs, including these two well known songs:

The Way We Were, originally sung by Barbra Streisand in the 1973 movie of the same name, won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1974.

The Windmills Of Your Mind from the 1968 movie "The Thomas Crown Affair", also won an Oscar for Best Original Song.  Just listen to these lyrics:  how many round objects are mentioned?  Thank you, You Tube, for showing me this.

Finally, actress Joan Copeland died January 4 at the age of 99. She would have turned 100 in June.  This is Joan singing "Old Man" in 1970 in the musical Two by Two.  

Copeland worked on Broadway for some 60 years and was also known for her work in the soap opera field (The Edge of Night, Search for Tomorrow, As the World Turns) and television dramas (appearances in NYPD Blue, Law and Order, ER, and others)

RIP to them all.