Edward Frank "Ed" Limato (July 10, 1936 – July 3, 2010) was an American talent agent and a senior vice president at the William Morris Agency, representing clients such as

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, Nicolas Cage, Mel Gibson, Steve Martin,

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, Richard Gere, and

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.Noland, Claire (July 4, 2010)
Ed Limato dies at 73; longtime Hollywood agent.
'' Los Angeles Times'' Before coming to WMA, Limato was a partner and co-president at International Creative Management for more than a decade, from 1988 to 1999.

Life and career

Limato grew up in a working-class Italian family in

Mount Vernon, New York Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. As of t ...

.Bart, Peter (May 26, 1998)
It's still primetime for the Gatsby of agents.
'' Variety'' He worked as a disc jockey and traveled to Europe, where he got a job as assistant to Franco Zeffirelli. Zeffirelli's agent helped Limato get a mailroom job at Ashley-Famous Agency in New York. That agency eventually merged to become International Creative Management (ICM). Limato transferred to Los Angeles, and he eventually moved to the William Morris Agency. He later returned to ICM, rising to co-president. He sued ICM in 2007 after they tried to move him to an ''emeritus'' position. Limato prevailed in the case and returned to William Morris with his clients.Barnes, Brooks (July 10, 2010)
Ed Limato, Flashy Old-School Talent Agent to the Stars, Dies at 73.
'' The New York Times'' Limato was on the board of directors at

Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle retailer that focuses on casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio. The company operates three other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. As of Februar ...

. He also served on the boards of the

Los Angeles Conservancy The Los Angeles Conservancy is a historic preservation organization in Los Angeles, California. It works to document, rescue and revitalize historic buildings, places and neighborhoods in the city. The Conservancy is the largest membership based ...

, American Cinematheque, and the Motion Picture and Television Fund. Limato died of

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

complicated by pneumonia in his home in 2010, just one week short of his 74th birthday.Jay A. Fernandez and Elizabeth Guider (July 3, 2010)
Agent Ed Limato dies.
'' The Hollywood Reporter''

Legacy

Both the 2010 film '' Unstoppable'' and the 2012 film '' Flight'' include dedications to Limato. The 2020 documentary ''

P.S. Burn This Letter Please ''P.S. Burn This Letter Please'' is a 2020 documentary film about gay life in New York City among 1950s drag queens. The title is taken verbatim from a letter recounting the autumn 1958 theft of 33 luxurious wigs from the Metropolitan Opera Hou ...

'' is based on a cache of hundreds of letters written to Limato, using his earlier radio presenter air name Reno Martin, and unearthed in a Los Angeles storage unit in 2014. The letters, dating back to the 1950s, are from some of Limato's closest friends, many of whom were drag queens in New York City. The letters represent "important written documents for drag queen history since most of these types of letters were destroyed out of fear."

References

External links

*
Ed Limato profile
via '' Forbes'' 1936 births 2010 deaths Businesspeople from California American talent agents People from Mount Vernon, New York American people of Italian descent 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from New York (state) {{US-business-bio-1930s-stub