CALIFORNIA — Weintraub, the man behind Nashville, Diner, the original Karate Kid and the Ocean’s Eleven, just to name a few, has died. He was 77.
The head of United Artists studio died of a heart attack Monday at his home in Palm Springs after, local media is reporting.
Weintraub, a great friend of President George Bush, Sr., was also an executive producer on HBO’s new comedy The Brink.
Weintraub was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, and raised in The Bronx, the son of Rose and Sam Weintraub. His father was a gem dealer. After several years at MCA, he left and formed his own personal management company. In the 1960s, he also co-founded the vocal group The Doodletown Pipers. Among the acts that Weintraub managed at this time were Joey Bishop, The Four Seasons, and singer Jane Morgan.
Before turning to films, Weintraub’s largest entertainment success was as the personal manager of singer and actor John Denver whom he signed in 1970. Denver and Weintraub’s professional relationship ended acrimoniously. Denver would later write in his autobiography “.. I’d bend my principles to support something he wanted of me. And of course every time you bend your principles – whether because you don’t want to worry about it, or because you’re afraid to stand up for fear of what you might lose – you sell your soul to the devil”.
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
