“I was more interested in enjoying myself than in that sort of thing.
“I never thought about becoming a conglomerate or becoming a big chief of a big organization,” he said in a recent interview. Lazar got his start in the 1930s as an attorney for the MCA talent agency, but became an agent when he learned the cut was 10% to his 1% cut as an attorney.ĭespite his whirlwind activity, enjoyment and freedom were always paramount for him. Lazar said he didn’t like the nickname “Swifty” and only a few friends, such as Lauren Bacall and Arthur Schlesinger, were allowed to call him that. Today’s post focuses on Irving Lazar the negotiator. His career was bookended by negotiating deals for Henny Youngman in the 1930s and Madonna in the 1990s. His suits were always finely pressed and his socks and underwear initialed. Swifty was a sobriquet that accompanied Iriving Lazar through most of his storied career as a literary agent in New York and Los Angles. 'This guy'll be so grateful to be getting it at all, he'll pitch puffballs all night. In 1993, Nevins founded Renaissance Literary & Talent with two Hollywood based literary agents and the agency thrived. 'It'll be a big wet kiss,' he assures Nixon. NEW YORK - An international cast of over 200 celebrities has been invited to a private memorial service on Thursday for Irving Paul (Swifty) Lazar.Lazar, a Hollywood and literary agent who became. STAFF about us Alan Nevins, President Alan Nevins started his book career working for the famed super agent Irving 'Swifty' Lazar. The 5-foot-3-inch Lazar was a dapper agent whose Coke bottle eyeglasses and bald dome were a caricaturist’s dream. Nixon's agent Swifty Lazar (Toby Jones) gets Frost to beat that.
At various times, his client list included Cole Porter, Faye Dunaway, Michael Caine, Vladimir Nabokov, Franco Zeffirelli, Clifford Odets, John Cheever, Lillian Hellman, Larry McMurtry and Art Buchwald. In an era dominated by such huge agencies as Creative Artists Agency and International Creative Management, Lazar continued to work by himself with few assistants. “That’s more likely what it’s figured it would cost to make the film,” he said. For example, Lazar was quoted in a 1961 issue of Daily Variety denying that the asking price for the film rights to “My Fair Lady” had escalated to an astronomical $ 7 mil. Lazar was known as an above-board dealmaker even when the stakes were high. He sold Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple” when it was only a five-sentence summary dictated by Simon, a 1966 Newsweek article said. Another one of Lazar’s specialties was selling properties before they were in finished form. Lazar was hired by a Manhattan law firm and began representing people in show business.
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