Songwriter Dory Previn dies

Oscar-nominated singer/songwriter Dory Previn died Tuesday at age 86.

A cause of death has not been reported.

She began her career as an actress before her songwriting landed her a job at MGM.

Along with her former husband Andre Previn (whom she married in 1959), she earned Academy Award nominations for “Faraway Part of Town,” from the film Pepe(1961), and “Second Chance,” from Two for the Seesaw(1963).

However, the couple’s most famous work was the title theme for the film Valley of the Dolls(1967).

The duo separated after he had an affair with actress Mia Farrow. Previn went from her failed marriage and struggles with mental illness to a series of successful albums such as Mythical Kings and Iguanas(1971) and Mary C. Brown and the Hollywood Sign(1972).

She would earn her third Oscar nomination for “Come Saturday Morning,” a song for the film Pookie(1969), which was released in the U.S. under the name The Sterile Cuckoo and which marked the directorial debut of Alan J. Pakula. Previn would win an Emmy in 1983 for co-writing the theme song for the TV series Two of a Kind.

Her other works include the theme song to the movie Last Tango in Paris(1973).

She married actor/artist Joby Baker in 1984.