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The Most Powerful Hollywood Agent of the '70s

courtesy of Joanna Poitier
Sue Mengers with her mother Ruth

Sue Mengers was a Hollywood legend. She broke the conventional mold for women in show business and became one of the most powerful talent agents in Hollywood during the 1970s. Her client list read like a Who’s Who of the most sought-after actors in the business: Barbra Streisand, Gene Hackman, Ryan O’Neal, Diana Ross, Michael Caine, Candice Bergen, and the list goes on. Like many ambitious young women in the ‘50s, Mengers started out as a secretary for a talent agent and then climbed the ladder, a ladder that she made herself, into the top echelon of agents and talent representatives in the country. 

Acclaimed biographer Brian Kellow gives us the back story of the woman who changed the business of agenting, and charts show business as it evolved from New York City in the ‘50s to Hollywood in the ‘80s. His new book is called Can I Go Now?: The Life of Sue Mengers, Hollywood’s First Superagent

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GUEST:

  • Brian Kellow – Author of Can I Go Now?: The Life of Sue Mengers, Hollywood’s First Superagent

MUSIC:

  • “Gne Gne,” Montefiori Cocktail
  • “Love Theme From Chinatown,” Jerry Goldsmith
  • “You're the Top,” Barbra Streisand
Lori Connecticut Public's Morning Edition host.

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