![]() Although the Governor’s Ball is the official post-Academy. Then you grab the cash and catch the next train out of town. Literary agent Irving (Swifty) Lazar’s Oscar night bash was the triple-A-list party, an E-ticket ride to the biggest celeb-fest ever. He was shouting into a telephone…Īsked in 1975 to summarize his philosophy, Lazar replied with what might be called “Lazar’s Law”: “In a deal, you give and take. Born Samuel Lazar in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1931. He used to host the most A-lister Oscar party in Los Angeles every year at Spago's. He was wearing tiny white shoes, a blue blazer with gold buttons, and white trousers pressed so perfectly, despite the heat, that he looked like a shiny, expensive beach toy that had just been unpacked by some lucky child. PLACE OF DEATH: Beverly Hills, CA EDUCATION: Brooklyn Law School BEST KNOWN FOR: ing Paul Swifty Lazar was an American talent agent and dealmaker, representing both movie stars and authors. 'Swifty Lazar was like a Hollywood super-agent. He was totally bald, and his face–what could be seen of it below huge, glittering gold-rimmed Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses–was tanned, like his pate, to the color of a well-cared-for crocodile handbag. The person in question was standing on the other side of the pool, an incongruous, diminutive figure among all the half-naked, oiled, and bronzed bodies. In a 1993 profile of Lazar, Michael Korda recalled his first glimpse of the self-dubbed “Prince of Pitch”: ![]() ![]() Lazar’s power grew to such an extent that he could negotiate a deal for someone who wasn’tt even his client, then collect a fee from that person’s agent. A bankruptcy lawyer turned talent agent, he represented Humphrey Bogart (who gave Lazar his nickname), Lauren Bacall, Truman Capote, Cher, Joan Collins, Noël Coward, Ira Gershwin, Cary Grant, Moss Hart, Ernest Hemingway, Gene Kelly, Madonna, Walter Matthau, Larry McMurtry, Vladimir Nabokov, Clifford Odets, Cole Porter, William Saroyan, Irwin Shaw, Richard Nixon (Lazar negotiated the interview with David Frost), and Tennessee Williams (among many others). * “Stigler’s Law” Statistician Stephen Stigler (who attributes the law to sociologist Robert Merton)Īs we give credit where credit is due, we might send expensive birthday greetings to Irving Paul “Swifty” Lazar he was born on his date in 1907. Via Lapham’s Quarterly, “ Eponymous laws: Legal Nomenclature.” In 1993, Nevins founded Renaissance Literary & Talent with two Hollywood based literary agents and the agency thrived. Click here (and again) for a larger version Alan Nevins started his book career working for the famed super agent Irving 'Swifty' Lazar.
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