Joel Hirschhorn; songwriter shared 2 Oscars
LOS ANGELES -- Joel Hirschhorn, the songwriter who shared Academy Awards for theme songs in two catastrophe-oriented motion pictures, ''The Poseidon Adventure" and ''The Towering Inferno," has died. He was 67.
Mr. Hirschhorn, who lived in Agoura Hills, northwest of Los Angeles, died early Sunday, apparently of a heart attack, at Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks, his wife, Jennifer Carter Hirschhorn, a documentary producer, said Monday. She said Mr. Hirschhorn had fallen Friday night and had broken his shoulder.
His songs, recorded by artists including Elvis Presley, have sold more than 90 million records, and his music was used for a score of motion pictures.
Along with a longtime collaborator, Al Kasha, Mr. Hirschhorn earned his first Oscar in 1973 for ''The Morning After," from ''Poseidon," a movie about a luxury cruise ship capsized by a huge wave.
The duo received a second statuette two years later for their song ''We May Never Love Like This Again" from ''The Towering Inferno," a film about a fire in a high-rise building.
Mr. Hirschhorn and Kasha were nominated for two Oscars in 1977, for their original score for the Disney animated film ''Pete's Dragon" and for the song ''Candle on the Water," sung by Helen Reddy in the film.
Mr. Hirschhorn met Kasha at Columbia Records, where Kasha was working as a producer.
They also found success on Broadway, getting two Tony Award nominations, in 1981 for their score for the musical ''Copperfield" and in 1983 for songs they added to a revival of the musical ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."
They also wrote music for television series, including the children's show ''Kids Inc." and the prime-time ''Knots Landing." In 1984, Mr. Hirschhorn earned a lyrics credit for ''Side by Side," the theme song of the late John Ritter sitcom ''Three's a Crowd."
Mr. Hirschhorn, who like Kasha wrote both music and lyrics, also wrote several books. Teaming with Kasha, he published ''If They Ask You, You Can Write a Song" in 1979; a collection originally titled ''Notes on Broadway: Conversations With the Great Songwriters" in 1985, and ''Reaching the Morning After" in 1986.
On his own, Mr. Hirschhorn wrote books including ''Rating the Movie Stars for Home Video, TV, Cable" in 1985, and ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Songwriting" in 2001.
With his wife, he wrote a book about an expedition that she led to recover artifacts from the sunken Titanic. The items were later put on display.
Mr. Hirschhorn wrote columns, reviews, and articles for Songwriter, Video Times, and other publications, and for the last six years he had been a theater critic for Variety, the entertainment industry newspaper.
Born in the Bronx, Mr. Hirschhorn graduated from New York's High School for the Performing Arts and attended Hunter College.
He worked as a nightclub singer and pianist and performed in the rock band the Highlighters before establishing himself as a songwriter.
In addition to his wife of 20 years, Mr. Hirschhorn leaves her two sons, Kevin and Brent Carter; his mother, Evelyn of Westlake Village, Calif.; his sister, Madeleine Desjardins of Palm Desert, Calif.; and a grandson.
