Universal Ramblings

Brooks won the Oscar for Best Original Song for the 1977 ballad “You Light Up My Life.” The song reached #1 on the US popular charts and also won him a Golden Globe Award and an Authors and Publishers Award.

He also wrote and directed the “You Light Up My Life” romantic comedy. It’s about a comedian who has a one-night stand with a director.

Joseph Brooks is an American screenwriter, director, producer and composer. He composed the the song You Light Up My Life for the film of the same name that he also wrote, directed and produced. The song reached #1 on the US popular charts and earned Brooks an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Golden Globe Award and an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Award. The song was also Debby Boone’s first solo hit record.

He also composed music for the film The Lords of Flatbush and co-produced Eddie and the Cruisers.

In January 2009, he was accused of sexual assault by four different women over incidents that occurred between March and May of 2008. He allegedly lured the women to his apartment to audition for movie roles. He was indicted over these alleged incidents on 23 June 2009.

Brooks allegedly seduced the women through Craigslist web postings and lured them to his upper East Side apartment with with promises of parts in his next movie, sources said. He purportedly boasted about his Oscar and offered to show it to them at his pad.Two of the victims said they had been doped with date-rape drugs, sources said. Others believe their drinks were spiked. Toxicology results have been inconclusive.The first of the alleged assaults occurred in November 2006, and involved a 22-year-old woman who said she was sexually abused at the Carlyle Hotel.

Another assault allegedly took place in Brooks’ apartment in May 2007. Three more took place over a two-week stretch near Brooks’ 70th birthday in March 2008, law enforcement sources said. Brooks wrote, directed and bankrolled the 1977 romance flick “You Light Up My Life,” and penned the title track. The song reached No. 1 on the pop chartsHe also composed music for the film “The Lords of Flatbush” and co-produced “Eddie and the Cruisers.” Brooks turned to movie-making after a successful career writing jingles, including a 1970s Pepsi Generation campaign with the lyrics, “You got a lot to live and Pepsi’s got a lot to give, yeah Pepsi’s got a lot to give.”