The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business

About this book

For decades hidden from the public eye William Morris agents made the deals that determined the fate of stars studios and networks alike. Mae West Frank Sinatra Marilyn Monroe Danny Thomas Steve McQueen--the Morris Agency sold talent to anyone in the market for it from the Hollywood studios to the mobsters who ran Vegas to the Madison Avenue admen who controlled television. While the clients took the spotlight the agency operated behind the scenes providing the grease that made show business what its become. The story begins more than a century ago when a fiery young immigrant named William Morris opened a vaudeville-booking office on New Yorks Fourteenth Street and went up against the trust that ruled the leading entertainment medium of the day. Led after Morriss death by the legendary Abe Lastfogel a cherubic little man who treated agents and clients alike as family the firm transformed the agents image from garish flesh-peddler to smooth-talking professional. But when Lastfogels successor brutally sacrificed his best friend--the man whod brought Barry Diller and Michael Ovitz out of the mail room--William Morris gave birth to its own nemesis: Ovitzs new firm CAA. Throughout the 80s and 90s as the Morris Agency made and lost such stars as Mel Gibson Julia Roberts Kevin Costner and Tom Hanks Ovitzs power grew inexorably as Morriss waned. Lulled by the phenomenal success of Bill Cosby and the upward spiral of the Beverly Hills real estate market Morriss board failed to act as death and defection thinned its ranks. Finally with its flagship motion-picture department on the brink of collapse the board was faced with the stark reality of having to buy its way back into the business it had once owned.