sat, 8 August 2008

BERNIE BRILLSTEIN DIES AT 77;

PIONEERING MANAGER HAD AN EYE FOR TALENT:

Bernie Brillstein, pioneering manager and producer whose keen eye for talent led him to steer the careers of such stars as John Belushi and Jim Henson, has died.

He was 77.

Brillstein had been suffering from complications stemming from double-bypass heart surgery in February.

A one-time WMA agent, Brillstein headed Hollywood's most successful management company in the 1980s and in the '90s in partnership with Brad Grey, now chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures.

Clients whose careers were nurtured at Brillstein-headed shingles also included such biz heavyweights as Lorne Michaels, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd,

Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Geena Davis, Martin Short, Jim Belushi, Dabney Coleman, Dana Carvey, Dennis Miller, Nicolas Cage, Rob Lowe and Jay Tarses.

LBN-MEDIA INSIDER:

***The Olympics which kick off Friday are bringing in over $1 billion in revenue to NBC Universal.

LBN-NOTICED:

***Long-time CAA communications department executive Michael Mand having lunch yesterday at La Scala in Beverly Hills.

***Renowned actor Jon Voight having lunch at the Beverly Glen Deli near Mulholland.

LBN-SEE IT...

Performers dance around a giant scroll during the opening ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008.

LBN-DID YOU KNOW:

***The game Simon Says was originally called Do This, Do That.

***The bark of the giant sequoia can be up to 2 feet thick.

***Vince Lombardi coined the term "game plan."

***The founder of Kodak, George Eastman, hated having his picture taken.

***Johnny Carson, Michael Douglas, and Clint Eastwood were all once gas station attendants.

LBN-QUOTE:

"Don't matter how much money you got, there's only two kinds of people: there's saved people and there's lost people."

--Bob Dylan.

LBN-HISTORY:

On Aug. 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon announced he would resign following damaging revelations in the Watergate scandal.