Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson, who gained fame with his rendition of the hit “Everybody’s Talkin’ ” in the 1969 movie “Midnight Cowboy” and whose quirky tunes such as “Me and My Arrow” endeared him to the Beatles, died of an apparent heart attack early Saturday. He was 52.

Nilsson, who had never fully recovered from a heart attack he suffered in February, died in his sleep at his Agoura Hills home, said David Spero, his manager.

Spero said Nilsson, who recorded his last album in 1979, had just completed work Wednesday night on a new record tentatively titled “Harry’s Got a Brown New Robe.”

“The last time I talked to him was Thursday,” Spero said. “He sounded great. He was very up and excited about the new songs he had finished.”


Nilsson, born Harry Edward Nelson III in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1941, stood at the center stage of pop music in the early 1970s. A millionaire before he was 30, Nilsson grew rich writing hits such as Three Dog Night’s “One” and singing two Grammy-winning numbers--"Without You” and “Everybody’s Talkin’,” the song that made him a major star when it was featured in the Oscar-winning film “Midnight Cowboy.” His hit “I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City” followed soon after.

In 1971, his animated movie “The Point,” a musical fantasy about a boy and his dog that included the top-40 song “Me and My Arrow,” was a prime-time triumph when it premiered on ABC and went on to earn two film festival awards. That same year, Nilsson released his platinum-selling album “Nilsson Schmilsson,” which included the hit “Without You” and “Coconut.” The next year he came out with the album “Son of Schmilsson.”

Nilsson’s eclectic style and whimsical songwriting won him the attention of the Beatles, with whom he became friends. In a 1988 interview with The Times, he recalled the time he and John Lennon dropped in unannounced before a stunned RCA executive who was considering rejecting the $5-million contract Nilsson wanted.

“John said: ‘You’ve only had two (expletive) artists in the history of your label--Elvis and Harry. Pay him the two bucks,’ ” said Nilsson, who credited Lennon with helping him to eventually get the contract.


Since the late 1970s, Nilsson’s career had been on the slide. Although he continued to dabble in music, Nilsson, whom rock critic Ken Tucker once described as “almost proudly lazy,” stopped making records and never toured. Nilsson was a heavy drinker and smoker, and his health began to decline as he put on more weight.

Nilsson’s creative interests were revived in 1991 when the Performing Arts Conservatory produced a stage version of “The Point” at the Chapel Court Theatre in Hollywood. “To fatten up the score a bit,” Nilsson contributed a couple new songs for the play, which received generally good reviews.

Over the years, Nilsson also wrote and performed music for the movie “Popeye,” starring Robin Williams, and the Terry Gilliam film “The Fisher King.”

Spero said Nilsson had given up drinking and had recently gotten together with former Beatle Ringo Starr to make a video, “Rockers Against Drunk Driving,” which will premiere on the American Music Awards on Feb. 7. On the video, the two sing the Beatles’ song “Baby, You Can Drive My Car.”


“They were best friends,” Spero said. “I talked to Ringo’s wife, Barbara, this morning. She said he took it very hard.”

In addition to working on his record, Spero said, Nilsson had been busy writing a book about his life and was looking forward to RCA releasing a boxed set of his music in April.

Nilsson is survived by his wife of 20 years, Oona, and their six children.