Seymour Heller
Encyclopedia
Seymour Heller was an American talent agent and artist's manager for over 60 years. He specialized in musical variety entertainers. Heller's most famous client was Liberace
, whom he signed in 1950 and represented until the entertainer's death in 1987.
in his hometown Cleveland representing big band
clients including Glenn Miller
, Tommy Dorsey
, Paul Whiteman
, Guy Lombardo
, Glen Gray
and Horace Heidt
. During World War II Heller served in the U.S. Coast Guard show Tars and Spars which featured celebrities such as Victor Mature
, Sid Caesar
, Gower Champion
and Bob Fosse
. After the war he moved to Los Angeles.
Recalling his business dealings with Liberace, Heller later said, "Never had a contract. It was all done with a smile and a handshake." Liberace's television show made him one of the best known entertainers in North America by the mid-1950s. In 1954 Heller formed a partnership with Dick Gabbe and Sam Lutz (Gabbe, Lutz and Heller Personal Management), beginning the first national personal management company in the United States. Heller co-founded the National Conference of Personal Managers that same year. Heller's other clients during his career included Helen O'Connell
, Lawrence Welk
, Tex Beneke
, Ginger Rogers
, Debbie Reynolds
, Mel Tormé
, the Andrews Sisters and Regis Philbin
. During the 1950s he developed both a friendship and business relationship with Colonel Tom Parker
. Heller later owned the renowned recording studio Producer's Workshop (now called Westbeach Recorders
) in Hollywood, where Liberace
recorded in his later years, as well as pop music luminaries Fleetwood Mac
, Ringo Starr
, Pink Floyd
and many others. He also had a partnership with Ray Harris
in the early disco
record label American Variety International (AVI), which produced and released many records between 1974 and 1984 and also owned interests in music publishing. He did other business under the names Attarack/Heller and Associates (1960s) and Seymour Heller and Associates (1984).
Heller died of natural causes in his Beverly Hills home on 8 October 2001. In 2002 the Seymour Heller Awards were created in his honour by the Talent Managers Association.
neighbourhood of Los Angeles for a few years before becoming longtime residents of Beverly Hills. Their daughter Liz Heller is a former Capitol Records
executive and founder of Buzztone, a Los Angeles-based marketing and media company. Their sons are Bruce and David.
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
, whom he signed in 1950 and represented until the entertainer's death in 1987.
Career
While in college during the late 1930s Heller worked for MCAMusic Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
in his hometown Cleveland representing big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
clients including Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
, Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
, Glen Gray
Glen Gray
Glen Gray Knoblauch, better known as Glen Gray, was a jazz saxophonist and leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra....
and Horace Heidt
Horace Heidt
Horace Heidt was an American pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television through the 1930s and 1940s.-Biography:Born in Alameda, California, Heidt attended Culver...
. During World War II Heller served in the U.S. Coast Guard show Tars and Spars which featured celebrities such as Victor Mature
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
, Sid Caesar
Sid Caesar
Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar is an Emmy award winning American comic actor and writer known as the leading man on the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, and to younger generations as Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2.- Early life :Caesar was born in Yonkers, New York,...
, Gower Champion
Gower Champion
Gower Carlyle Champion was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.-Early years:Champion was born in Geneva, Illinois, the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice Carlisle. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated from Fairfax High School...
and Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
. After the war he moved to Los Angeles.
Recalling his business dealings with Liberace, Heller later said, "Never had a contract. It was all done with a smile and a handshake." Liberace's television show made him one of the best known entertainers in North America by the mid-1950s. In 1954 Heller formed a partnership with Dick Gabbe and Sam Lutz (Gabbe, Lutz and Heller Personal Management), beginning the first national personal management company in the United States. Heller co-founded the National Conference of Personal Managers that same year. Heller's other clients during his career included Helen O'Connell
Helen O'Connell
Helen O'Connell was an American singer, actress, and dancer.Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell joined the Jimmy Dorsey band in 1939 and achieved her best selling records in the early 1940s with "Green Eyes", "Amapola," "Tangerine" and "Yours"...
, Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
, Tex Beneke
Tex Beneke
Gordon Lee Beneke , professionally known as Tex Beneke, was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. His band is also associated with the careers of Eydie Gorme...
, Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
, Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
, Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
, the Andrews Sisters and Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
. During the 1950s he developed both a friendship and business relationship with Colonel Tom Parker
Colonel Tom Parker
"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley...
. Heller later owned the renowned recording studio Producer's Workshop (now called Westbeach Recorders
Westbeach Recorders
Westbeach Recorders is a recording studio in Hollywood, California famous for recording punk rock groups, such as Bad Religion, NOFX, Rancid, The Offspring and Pennywise. It was established in 1985 by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz and re-located to Hollywood, California in February 1987 and...
) in Hollywood, where Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
recorded in his later years, as well as pop music luminaries Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
and many others. He also had a partnership with Ray Harris
Ray Harris
Ray Harris was an American rockabilly musician and songwriter. He formed a band with Wayne Powers, and wrote the songs "Come On, Little Mama" and "Greenback Dollar, Watch and Chain". He eventually recorded these at Sun Records with Sam Phillips. He has also produced artists at Hi Records...
in the early disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
record label American Variety International (AVI), which produced and released many records between 1974 and 1984 and also owned interests in music publishing. He did other business under the names Attarack/Heller and Associates (1960s) and Seymour Heller and Associates (1984).
Heller died of natural causes in his Beverly Hills home on 8 October 2001. In 2002 the Seymour Heller Awards were created in his honour by the Talent Managers Association.
Family
Heller's wife Billie Heller is a noted women's rights activist and feminist. They married in 1951 and lived in the WestwoodWestwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...
neighbourhood of Los Angeles for a few years before becoming longtime residents of Beverly Hills. Their daughter Liz Heller is a former Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
executive and founder of Buzztone, a Los Angeles-based marketing and media company. Their sons are Bruce and David.
