Jay Kanter, who was the agent for such legends as Marlon Brando, Mel Brooks, Grace Kelly, and Marilyn Monroe, and who produced such films as X, Y & Zee (1972), died yesterday, Tuesday, August 6, at the age of 97.
Jay Kanter was born on December 12 1926 in Chicago. Following his father's death, when he was nine years old, his mother moved to Los Angles with him. During World War II, when he was 17, he joined the United States Navy. It was after his service ended that he got a job in the mailroom at the Music Corporation of America, better known as MCA. It was not long before he became a messenger to Lew Wasserman, the president of MCA. Lew Wasserman eventually made him an agent.
It was while Jay Kanter was an agent that he lent the key to his Beverly Hills apartment to senior MCA executive Jennings Lang so the executive could meet with actress Joan Bennett, whom he represented. Miss Bennett's husband, Walter Wanger, then shot Mr. Lang in a fit of jealousy. Jennings Lang survived and Walter Wanger served four months at the County Honor Farm at Castaic, California, having pled insanity. As to Jay Kanter, he was moved to MCA's New York City office so he wouldn't have to be interviewed by the Los Angeles County district attorney.The incident was one of the inspirations for the classic movie The Apartment (1960).
In 1962 MCA closed its talent agency due to an anti-trust suit filed by the United States Department of Justice. Jay Kanter then became a film production executive at MCA subsidiary Universal. In the late Sixties and the Seventies Jay Kanter became a producer on his own. He produced the films Doppelgänger (1969), When Eight Bells Toll (1971), Villani (1971), The Nightcomers (1971), X, Y & Zee (1972), Death Line (1972), Fear is the Key (1972), and Big Truck and Sister Clare (1974).
In 1975 he went to work at Fox. He later went to work at The Ladd Co., which made such films as Chariots of Fire (1981), Body Heat (1981), and Blade Runner (1982). In 1994 he set up his own independent production company.
Jay Kanter played a pivotal role in the history of Hollywood movies, representing several legendary actors and directors. As an executive at Universal and MCA, he played a role in making various classic movies and was a producer on his own. He also reported to be a very nice person. On Twitter, Mel Brooks tweeted, "Very sad news today. I've known a lot of nice people in my life, but nobody nicer than Jay Kanter. If you knew him, you loved him. He was more than a legendary agent. He was a loyal friend, always there when you needed him. I know it's a cliché, but in Jay case it is just so true: he will be sorely missed."
I never heard of him. So what. The point is that I actually look forward to Terrence's obituaries. If you read them consistently, it is akin to reading a behind the scenes history of Hollywood. There is more to tinseltown than the tinsel. Lot of fine people make it work.
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