On this day in 1990, Leonard Bernstein, one of America's most famous composers and conductors, died at his apartment in Manhattan at age 72, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported.

His doctor said the cause was a heart attack brought on by lung failure, the Post reported. Days earlier, Bernstein had announced he would retire from conducting because illness had left him too weak to work.

Bernstein wrote the music for Broadway hits including "West Side Story," "On the Town," "Wonderful Town" and "Candide," the Post said. He also wrote the score for the 1954 film "On the Waterfront."

"West Side Story," a version of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" set in New York City, was probably his most popular work, the Post reported. The 1961 movie version won 10 Academy Awards, including best picture.

Bernstein was music director of the New York Philharmonic from 1958 to 1969, the Post said. He was the first conductor born in the United States to win a major international reputation.

He became famous almost overnight. On Nov. 14, 1943, as a 25-year-old assistant conductor, he stepped in at the last minute for a sick guest conductor, the Post reported. He had not rehearsed, but his performance won praise and a front-page story in The New York Times.

He also brought classical music to millions through television, including concerts and lessons on CBS, the Post said. He was sometimes called "music's most articulate spokesman."

"I am a fanatic music lover," Bernstein once said, the Post reported. "I can't live one day without hearing music, playing it, studying it or thinking about it."

He was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1918 and grew up in Boston, the Post said. He studied at Harvard and the Curtis Institute of Music.

What we know: Bernstein died Oct. 14, 1990, at his Manhattan home.
What we don't: Details of his final days beyond his doctor's account.