Towering Inferno songwriter dies

Songwriter Joel Hirschhorn, who won two Oscars for his music in movies The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, has died aged 67, reports say.

Hirschhorn suffered a heart attack in a California hospital, according to industry newspaper Variety.

Artists who recorded his work included Elvis Presley and more than 90 million copies of Hirschhorn's songs were sold, the Los Angeles Times reported.

He also wrote books and was a theatre critic for Variety.

Long-term partnership

Born in the Bronx, New York, Hirschhorn worked as a nightclub singer and pianist and performed in a rock band before becoming an established songwriter.

It was his partnership with long-term collaborator Al Kasha that brought him the most success and the duo won their first Oscar in 1977 for The Morning After, from the film The Poseidon Adventure.

The pair also found success on Broadway, earning two Tony Award nominations - one in 1981 for their musical Copperfield and the other in 1983 for songs added to a revived Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

They also wrote music for television - including the soap opera Knots Landing.