George Shapiro – one of the most famous talent managers, who replaced stars of jerry seinfeld at Andy Kaufmannot to mention a mega television producer in his own right – passed away.
The showbiz one-man band died of natural causes Thursday at his Beverly Hills home, according to Deadline. No further details of his death have been released.
Shapiro cut his teeth in entertainment working as a starving talent agent – surrounding himself with some of the biggest names in entertainment at the time…including Elvis Presley and Carl Reinerwhich he continued to personally represent/manage.
Eventually, he started his own company – and while he continued to manage some talent, like Kaufman, most of his work seemed to focus on producing hit TV shows… some of which include “The Steve Allen Show,” “That Girl,” and ‘Gomer Pyle.’
He also packed a number of specials for huge variety show hosts at the time, like Dick Van Dyke, Marie Tyler Moore and Carol Channing. But his biggest contribution to television would come in the 90s. Of course, we’re talking about “Seinfeld”, for which he served as an EP.
Jerry and George remained very close after the sitcom’s epic run – GS even went on to produce a number of stand-up specials for Jerry, and memorably appeared in 2002’s “Comedian” doc…where Jerry s tries again at comedy in the wake of “Seinfeld”.
As involved as he’s been with Jerry over the years — including continuing to produce for JS’s recent projects, like “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” — Shapiro was equally devoted to the late and great Kaufman… going through the roller coaster of his notoriety at the time.
Their relationship was dramatized on film in “Man on the Moon” in 1999, where Jim Carrey is infamous for portraying Kaufman, and with Danny DeVito play George.
In short, Shapiro had worked with the crème de la crème… and leaves behind him a turbulent career. He is survived by his lifelong companion and the mother of his children, Melody, his children and many grandchildren. He was 91 years old.
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