When Hollywood Had a King: The Reign of Lew Wasserman, Who Leveraged Talent into Power and Influence

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"From his meager beginnings as a movie-theater usher in Cleveland, Wasserman ultimately ascended to the post of president of MCA, and the company became the most powerful force in Hollywood, regarded with a mixture of fear and awe." "In his signature black suit and black knit tie, Wasserman took Hollywood by storm. He shifted the balance of power from the studios - which had seven-year contractual strangleholds on the stars - to the talent, who became profit partners. When an antitrust suit forced MCA's evolution from talent agency to film- and television-production company, it was Wasserman who parlayed the control of a wide variety of entertainment and media products into a new type of Hollywood power base. There was only Washington left to conquer, and conquer it Wasserman did, quietly brokering alliances with Democratic and Republican administrations alike." The history of MCA is really the history of a revolution. Lew Wasserman ushered in the Hollywood we know today. He is the link between the old-school moguls with their ironclad studio contracts and the new industry defined by multimedia conglomerates, power agents, multimillionaire actors, and profit sharing. In the hands of Connie Bruck, the story of Lew Wasserman's rise to power takes on an almost Shakespearean scope. When Hollywood Had a King reveals the industry's greatest untold story: how a stealthy, enterprising power broker became, for a time, Tinseltown's absolute monarch.

FROM THE CRITICS

The New York Times

Connie Bruck, the author of books about the junk-bond impresario Michael Milken (The Predators' Ball) and Steve Ross and Time Warner (Master of the Game), has now chosen to explore a far more complicated figure. Her fascinating book, When Hollywood Had a King: The Reign of Lew Wasserman, Who Leveraged Talent Into Power and Influence, is a methodical portrait of an often secretive mogul whose vindictiveness, cunning and temper matched his shrewdness and prescience. — Bernard Weinraub

The Washington Post

When Hollywood Had a King succeeds at the daunting task of nailing down people who by their very nature were slippery as eels. Even so, however, it is not so much about Wasserman's life as it is about an era, one in which the art form of film and the public trust of the airwaves were effectively seized by men willing to flout laws and ignore ethics -- enabled by a relatively naive legal establishment that became a more-than-willing accomplice. — John Anderson

Publishers Weekly

Until his death last year, Wasserman was one of the last survivors from the corporate side of Hollywood's golden era. Having started as an agent at MCA, he eventually became the firm's president, but not before he'd turned the talent agency into a powerful film and television studio, buying out Universal in the process. Wasserman's story is inseparable from that of MCA, and this book appropriately begins with an account of the company's founder, Jules Stein, who began booking bands from his Chicago office in 1924. This put Stein, and MCA, in contact with the local musicians' union, which then linked him to organized crime-the first of several such links the book explores. Wasserman helped shift the balance of power to Hollywood, remaining with the firm despite being widely sought after by rival agencies and movie studios. He also helped extend MCA's political influence, through extensive fund-raising and a longstanding connection with former client Ronald Reagan. New Yorker staffer Bruck (Master of the Game) is strong on Wasserman's corporate tactics, as well as later buyouts of Universal by foreign investors. But she also demonstrates extensive familiarity with the business's underside, exploring Wasserman's connections with mob lawyer Sidney Korshak, which assured a comfortable relationship between MCA and Hollywood's unions. Much more than a celebrity-studded tale, Bruck's work offers a look at the corporate machinations behind the film industry's myths. 8-page photo insert not seen by PW. (On sale June 3) Forecast: Crown published Dennis McDougal's The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA, and the Hidden History of Hollywood just four years ago; it received positive reviews. Bruck's version might appeal to readers who want a second opinion on Wasserman, and ads in the New Yorker and radio drive-time interviews could find readers who missed McDougal's book. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Although Lew Wasserman's name may not be immediately familiar, he was one of Hollywood's most powerful players. A shrewd and driven man, he helped build an empire that reached into almost every branch of the entertainment industry, and his rise from agent to president of the renowned Music Corporation of America (MCA) made him a legend. Bruck, a staff writer at The New Yorker and author of Master of the Game, chronicles this singular tale of success, along with that of the MCA itself and its enigmatic founder, Jules Stein, a medical student whose tenacity turned a 1920s booking agency for bands into an industry force. Bruck's research is outstanding (it includes original interviews with Wasserman, who died last June), and her approach is thorough. The result is a remarkable volume about high-level wheeling and dealing set against startling stories of the business and social interconnections between Wasserman and almost everyone everywhere-from the White House and major corporate entities, to famous members of the Hollywood community, to unions and the underworld. Those who are interested in comprehensive details about the inner workings of the entertainment industry-its history, business, customs, people, and gossip-will find this a fascinating read and a solid resource. For large circulating libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/03.]-Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews