Marvin Josephson, the man who founded the talent agency that would eventually evolve into the Hollywood powerhouse ICM Partners, died Wednesday in New York. He was 95.
“We mourn the loss of Marvin Josephson, one of the founders of ICM, who was universally respected as an agent, a leader and a man. We send our heartfelt condolences to his family,” ICM Partners said in a statement provided to TheWrap.
Josephson, a New York University law school graduate (1952) born in 1927 in Atlantic City, N.J to parents who were immigrants, founded his initial talent representation business in 1955. His first big client was Bob Keeshan, better known to generations of kids as Captain Kangaroo.
Josephson began representing big name TV personalities, starting with Charles Collingwood and eventually including Barbara Walters.
After merging with LA-based Rosenberg Coryell in the mid-60s, Josephson bought out his partners and changed the company’s name to Marvin Josephson Associates. Following the 1968 acquisition of Ashley Famous Agency, Josephson took MJA public in 1971; he later renamed the company Josephson International, Inc.
In 1975, Josephson International merged with Creative Management Associates, and the new company was subsequently renamed International Creative Management (ICM). After taking the company private again in the late 1980s, Josephson stepped away from day to day running of ICM in 1992. The company was ultimately sold to a private investor in 2005.
His family has requested that in lieu of flowers, people send donations to The Jewish Federations of North America in support of Ukrainian families.