Bernie Brillstein
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Bernie Brillstein (b. April 26, 1931, in New York City, New York) is a film and television producer and executive producer.
A nephew of the pioneering radio comic Jack Pearl, Brillstein had an early start in show business in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency (WMA) in New York. He worked his way up to talent agent and by the 1960s he was a manager-producer of television programming for the company. Still associated with WMA, in 1964 he joined Management III to continue talent management.[1]
By now living in Los Angeles, Brillstein formed The Brillstein Company in 1969. There, he continued to manage stars and develop television programming. He produced such popular television hits as Hee Haw, The Muppet Show[2] and Saturday Night Live.[3] Brillstein was a manager of both John Belushi and Lorne Michaels, as well as famed puppeteers Jim Henson (of Muppets fame) and Paul Fusco (voice and operator of ALF). He produced such other television shows as Alf: The Animated Series, and Normal Life.
In the 1980s, he met Brad Grey at a television convention in San Francisco, California. In 1991[1] the two formed a production company, Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, which packages programming and manages talent. They were responsible for both The Larry Sanders Show and The Sopranos for HBO. As executive producer, Brillstein has been responsible for such successes as The Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters, Dragnet, Ghostbusters II, Happy Gilmore and The Cable Guy.
Brillstein sold his shares in the company to Grey in 1996. Grey sold his interest in the company in 2005.[3]
[edit] Publications
- Bernie Brillstein with David Rensin, Where Did I Go Right?: You're No One In Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead (memoir), 1999, Little Brown Inc. (Chapter One]
