Leslie Bricusse, Willy Wonka and Goldfinger songwriter, dead at 90

Leslie Bricusse, the Oscar-winning songwriter whose legendary catalog includes James Bond’s “Goldfinger” theme song, Willy Wonka’s signature “Candy Man” anthem and Nina Simone’s signature “Feeling Good,” has died. He was 90.

The British composer and lyricist’s passing was confirmed by his son, artist Adam Bricusse, on Tuesday in a Facebook post. The family has shared no cause of death at this time.

“My dearest father passed away peacefully this morning,” Adam, 56, said. “Please raise a glass for him. Love. Forever. RIP Dad.”

Bricusse’s son ended his tribute with lyrical snippet from “Feeling Good” — “Sleep in peace when the day is done …”

Born and raised in the suburbs of London, Bricusse studied at Cambridge University, where he was president of the Footlights performance club, a launching pad for many a musical and comic talent.

He began writing words and music for stage and screen in the 1950s, but is perhaps best known for his writing the words to a pair composer John Barry’s iconic swinging ’60s super-spy themes: 1964’s “Goldfinger,” made legendary by UK diva Shirley Bassey, and 1967’s “You Only Live Twice,” sung by Nancy Sinatra.

“[He] was one of the giant songwriters of our time,” actress and “great friend” Joan Collins, 88, said in tribute on Instagram. “… He and his beautiful Evie have been in my life for over 50 years. I will miss him terribly, as will his many friends.”

It was with Collins’ ex-husband — frequent collaborator Anthony Newley — that Bricusse wrote the Oscar-nominated score for 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” His iconic tracks from that sweet classic include “Pure Imagination,” and “The Candy Man,” which also became a huge chart hit for Sammy Davis Jr. in 1972.

Bricusse and Newley also co-wrote stage musicals, including 1961’s “Stop the World — I want to Get Off” — which featured the Grammy-winning “What Kind of Fool Am I?” and “The Roar of the Greasepaint — The Smell of the Crowd.” That production also debuted “Feeling Good,” which later became the signature song of Nina Simone, off her seminal 1965 album “I Put a Spell on You.”

Fellow composer Henry Mancini (“Moon River,” “Pink Panther”), with whom Bricusse co-won an Oscar for “Victor/Victoria in 1983, once called his esteemed peer “the consummate Brit [with] an encyclopedic memory for things theater … sometimes I just like to sit back and watch his mind work.”

Meanwhile, Bricusse’s other big screen contributions included Rex Harrisonn’s “Doctor Doolittle,” which won 1968’s best song Oscar for “Talk to the Animals.” He also penned tunes for “Superman” “Scrooge” and “Hook.”

“The music illuminates the meaning of the lyric, just as the lyric can have only that melody and no other,” Bricusse wrote in his memoir, “Pure Imagination, in 2016. “They are the two reflecting halves of the same thing, and like the fine finished product of any art or craft, the two pieces must be seamlessly joined.”

Bricusse is survived by his wife, Yvonne “Evie” Romain, and their son Adam.

This post first appeared on Nypost.com

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