Jay Kanter, the veteran agent who represented a slew of Hollywood legends including Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe, died Tuesday in his Beverly Hills home. He was 97.
A Chicago native who served in the Navy during World War II, Kanter got his start in showbiz at MCA, where he was mentored by legendary mogul Lew Wasserman.
As an agent, one of Kanter’s first clients was a young Marlon Brando, whom he represented all the way through his iconic career and right up to his death in 2004. Kanter would go on to serve as an agent for several of the biggest names in Hollywood history, including Grace Kelly, Gene Kelly, Ronald Reagan and Marilyn Monroe.
In 1962, after Wasserman led MCA to take over Universal Pictures, Kanter moved into film production and oversaw Universal’s European studio. After that studio shut down, Kanter formed a production company with famed producer Alan Ladd Jr. that eventually led to the two working at 20th Century Fox, where Kanter became a producer on classic films such as the “Star Wars” trilogy, “Chariots of Fire,” “Alien,” “Blade Runner” and “Thelma & Louise.”
In the later years of his life, Kanter authored several biographies about the actors he knew over the years, including “Grace Kelly: The American Princess” and “Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire.” He is survived by six children and 10 grandchildren.
Deadline first reported the news.
