Marvin Josephson, founder of ICM, has died aged 95 –

It turns out that Marvin Josephson, who took over the small personal management company as Captain Kangaroo’s client and, through several acquisitions, turned the business into the Hollywood Talent Agency ICM, died in New York on Tuesday. He was 95 years old.

In 1968, his Marvin Josephson Associates took a big step by buying the Ashley Famous Agency for $10 million in cash from a company controlled by Steve Ross, which decided to buy Warner Bros. and was forced to sell a talented agency due to union rules.

As Ted Ashley, the founder of Ashley Famous Agency, would not be part of the deal (he would also go to Warners), the combined agency was renamed the Internationally Renowned Agency (the parent company that owned the IFA was still called MJA).

The MJA went public in 1971 and was later renamed Josephson International Inc.

Josephson continued to expand through internal growth and acquisitions that included Chasin Park Citron, a Hollywood boutique company with several former MCA agents, and Creative Management Associates, which launched the GAC and was launched in 1975. The agency talent pool was called International Creative Management. With Josephson, President and CEO.

The agency grew into a thriving operation, with offices in Los Angeles, New York and London. He also formed a classical music group called ICM Artists, which included Yo-Yo Mas, Yitzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, and other top-notch classical music artists and directors.

During this period, Josephson personally represented a select group of clients, including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, actor Steve McQueen, US General Norman Schwarzkopf, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and US General American Colin Powell.

In 1988, Josephson led the effort in a $72 million private JII settlement. Four years later, he handed over day-to-day control of ICM to Jeff Berg, Sam Cons, and Jim Wyatt, while continuing to represent personal clients. In 2005, the company, now known as ICM Partners, sold a majority stake to private investor Suhail Rizvi for $75 million.

Born in Atlantic City on March 6, 1927, he joined the US Navy before the end of World War II after graduating from Atlantic City High School.

He attended Cornell University and went to night school at the New York University School of Law, earning a law degree in 1952. He took a job in the CBS Legal Department that year, but left to start his career. by myself. Clerk – April 1, 1955.

His first big client was Bob Kishan, a producer who starred in the new CBS show Morning Kids. kangaroo captainIt premiered in October 1955 and ran for 29 years.

Before the Thanksgiving parade in the Green Room in 1955, which featured a kangaroo, Josephson met with Charles Collingwood, a CBS reporter who provided colorful commentary on the parade.

When his company became a talent agency, Josephson continued to represent Colinwood and other news personalities and producers such as Chet Huntley, Peter Jennings, Frank McGee, Don Hewitt, Reuven Frank, and later Barbara Walters.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Josephson’s agency grew with the addition of agents and clients and the hiring of Lynn Nesbitt to start a literary agency at a talent agency. In the mid-1960s, Josephson merged his Los Angeles-based company with Rosenberg Coryell, who represented Bing Crosby and James Garner.

Josephson then purchased his California partners and the company operated under the name Marvin Josephson Associates. The company continued to grow in the number of MCA buying agents as it exited the talent agency business.

All of this helped Josephson acquire Ashley’s famous agency.

His client McQueen introduced him to karate and Josephson received a fourth degree black belt in Tang Su Doo. He later received the Israeli Martial Arts Krav Maga and received the fourth honorary degree.

Josephson served for more than 11 years as president of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, an American charity. He also served on the Board of the International Rescue Committee and traveled on various rescue missions to assist with the resettlement of refugees in Ethiopia, Bosnia and Iraq.

He outlived his wife, actress, director and producer Tina Chen; Children Celia, Claire, Nancy, YiLing and YiPei; 16 grandchildren; two grandchildren; And his brother Jackie.

Donations in his memory can be donated to Jewish Federations of North America to support families in Ukraine.