Lucy Simon, a Tony-nominated Broadway composer best known for “The Secret Garden” and the older sister of pop singer Carly Simon, died Thursday following a long battle with breast cancer. She was 82.
Her family said she died at her home in Piedmont, New York.
Simon was only the third female composer to have a production on Broadway with “The Secret Garden,” a musical based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. She composed the music with the book and lyrics by Marsha Norman.
In 1991 “The Secret Garden” was nominated for six Tony Awards, including nominations for Best Original Score for Simon and Norman, winning two. The musical ran for 709 performances on Broadway.
Simon also composed the music for the 2011 musical “Doctor Zhivago.”
Born in 1940 in New York City, Simon began performing as a folk duo with her younger sister, Carly, in 1963 under the name The Simon Sisters. They released three albums before parting ways after their 1969 third album and Simon briefly abandoned entertainment to pursue a career in nursing. She returned to music later in the decade, releasing solo albums in 1975 and ’77. Alongside her husband, David Levine, she won Grammys in 1981 and ’83 for their contributions to two “Sesame Street” albums.
She first attempted to enter the musical theater world via an adaptation of “Little House on the Prairie” that never ultimately came together. According to Broadway World, she later said, “That book never worked, but I learned about writing for musical theatre. So when I was asked to write the music for The Secret Garden, I was ready with my whole heart.”
She was married to Levine from 1967 until her death. Alongside him and her sister, Carly Simon, Lucy Simon is survived by her children and grandchildren.