Hollywood Player Bernie Brillstein Dies at 77

Brillstein died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Thursday night at a Los Angeles hospital, according to information provided Friday by Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Bernie Brillstein Starting in the mail room of the William Morris talent agency in 1956, Brillstein moved up to become a Hollywood power broker famous for putting together TV and movie deals, often starring talent he represented and with himself as executive producer.

Brillstein helped guide the careers of John Belushi and Muppets creator Jim Henson, and bring “Saturday Night Live" and “The Sopranos" to the screen. With partner Brad Grey he founded the influential management and production company Brillstein-Grey Entertainment in 1991. Among the successful shows he helped bring to TV were the long-running variety show “Hee Haw" and “Alf." He was executive producer on Dan Ackroyd's hit movie, “Ghostbusters."

Brash, sharp and rotundly rumpled, Brillstein exemplified the old-school stereotype of an agent rather than the slick, corporate “Jerry Maguire" operator.

In his 1999 memoir, “Where Did I Go Right? -- You're No One in Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead," he recalled that early on at William Morris Agency in New York, he helped negotiate a Broadway musical deal for an actress -- only to find out that she had been dead for four years.