Ed Limato
Ed Limato | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edward Frank Limato July 10, 1936 |
| Died | July 3, 2010 (aged 73) |
| Occupation | Talent agent |
| Years active | 1966–2010 |
Edward Frank "Ed" Limato (July 10, 1936 – July 3, 2010) was an American talent agent and a senior vice president at the William Morris Agency, representing clients such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicolas Cage, Mel Gibson, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, Richard Gere, and Denzel Washington.[1] Before coming to WMA, Limato was a partner and co-president at International Creative Management for more than a decade, from 1988 to 1999.
Life and career[]
Limato grew up in a working-class Italian family in Mount Vernon, New York.[2] He worked as a disc jockey and traveled to Europe, where he got a job as assistant to Franco Zeffirelli. Zeffirelli's agent helped Limato get a mailroom job at Ashley-Famous Agency in New York. That agency eventually merged to become International Creative Management (ICM).
Limato transferred to Los Angeles, and he eventually moved to the William Morris Agency. He later returned to ICM, rising to co-president. He sued ICM in 2007 after they tried to move him to an emeritus position. Limato prevailed in the case and returned to William Morris with his clients.[3]
Limato was on the board of directors at Abercrombie & Fitch.[4][5] He also served on the boards of the Los Angeles Conservancy, American Cinematheque, and the Motion Picture and Television Fund.[1] Limato died of emphysema complicated by pneumonia in home, just one week short of his 74th birthday.[6]
The movie Flight (2012 film) is dedicated to Limato, as well as Unstoppable (2010 film) (and also to Hollie Haines Knowlton).
The documentary, P.S. Burn This Letter Please? (2020), is based on a cache of hundreds of letters, written to Limato but using his earlier, radio presenter nom de plume, Reno Martin, and unearthed in a Los Angeles storage unit in 2014, after his death. The letters, dating back to the 1950s, are from some of Limato's closest gay/queer friends many of whom were drag queens. As such these letters represent, "important written documents for drag queen history since most of these types of letters were destroyed out of fear."[7]
References[]
- ^ a b Noland, Claire (July 4, 2010). Ed Limato dies at 73; longtime Hollywood agent. Los Angeles Times
- ^ Bart, Peter (May 26, 1998). It's still primetime for the Gatsby of agents. Variety
- ^ Barnes, Brooks (July 10, 2010). Ed Limato, Flashy Old-School Talent Agent to the Stars, Dies at 73. The New York Times
- ^ Fleming, Michael (August 13, 2007). "Arbitrator sides with Ed Limato". Variety.
- ^ "Edward F Limato". Forbes.[dead link]
- ^ Jay A. Fernandez and Elizabeth Guider (July 3, 2010). Agent Ed Limato dies. The Hollywood Reporter
- ^ Hay, Carla. "Review: 'P.S. Burn This Letter Please' starring Henry Arango James Bidgood Michael Alonga Robert Bouvard Claude Diaz George Roth and Joseph Touchette". Culture Mix. Culture Mix Online. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
External links[]
- Ed Limato at IMDb
- Ed Limato profile via Forbes
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- 1936 births
- 2010 deaths
- Businesspeople from California
- American talent agents
- People from Mount Vernon, New York
- American people of Italian descent
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- California stubs
- American business biography, 1930s birth stubs