Richard Perry, a record producer who became one of the most sought-after figures behind the scenes of pop music in the 1970s and ’80s through his work with Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, the Pointer Sisters and others, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 82.

The cause of his death, in a hospital, was cardiac arrest, said Daphna Kastner Keitel, a friend.

Mr. Perry began his producing career in the late 1960s with some of music’s most inspired oddities: He recorded Tiny Tim’s debut album, “God Bless Tiny Tim” (featuring “Tip-Toe Thru’ the Tulips With Me,” a Top 20 hit in 1968), and Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band’s “Safe as Milk.”

But by the early 1970s, he had become one of the most reliable hitmakers in the business, wrapping stars in a clear, powerful production style that sounded superb on the radio.

He recorded Ms. Streisand’s 1971 album “Stoney End,” on which she embraced the contemporary pop songwriting of Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman. After that, he produced Harry Nilsson’s “Nilsson Schmilsson” (1971), featuring the hits “Without You,” “Jump Into the Fire” and “Coconut”; Ringo Starr’s solo LPs “Ringo” (1973) and “Goodnight Vienna” (1974); and Ms. Simon’s “No Secrets” (1972), which included her signature song “You’re So Vain.”