Duncan Heath (born June 1946) is a British

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds work for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, dancers, and other professionals in various entertainm ...

, producer and the co-chairman of Independent Talent Group, Europe's largest talent agency, based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His clients include many leading figures in the British film industry, including

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and Mike Newell.Duncan Heath at www.bifa.org
Retrieved 16 February 2010Official website of Independent Talent Group Ltd
Retrieved 16 February 2010

Early life

Heath was born in June 1946, the son of Sir Barrie Heath (1916–1988), a decorated former

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

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pilot and later chairman of the industrial conglomerate GKN. Their relationship was not always cordial, and Heath later recalled that his father disapproved of him entering the entertainment industry, adding that he "wanted me to go work in some dark Satanic mill somewhere".

Career

Contrary to his father's wishes, he began his career in

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

, and, in 1971, joined the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best-known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ...

as a runner, beginning at the very bottom of the industry. After less than a year, he had been fired for behaviour he later described as "insolence and mild violence". In a later interview with Industrial Scripts, Heath elaborated on his dismissal from the William Morris Agency, saying:

Duncan Heath Associates

In 1973, he and his then-wife-to-be

Hilary Dwyer Hilary Dwyer (6 May 1945 – 30 March 2020), also known as Hilary Heath, was an English actress, businessperson, and film producer. She was best known for her acting roles in films such as '' Witchfinder General'' (1968) and ''Wuthering Heights ...

founded the talent agency Duncan Heath Associates. In an interview with the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' in 2002, Heath said "she introduced me to a lot of people - if it wasn't for her, it wouldn't have happened." He found the money to start the business by betting the remains of his wages from William Morris on a horse that his mother had running at Newbury. The horse came in at 35:1 and Heath found himself with £3,500, a sum he described as "a shitload of money in the 1970s". He bought a fifty per cent stake in a company owned and run by Christopher Long, a former

ICM ICM may refer to: Organizations * Irish Church Missions, an Anglican mission * Institut du Cerveau, the Paris Brain Institute, a research center * Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling, University of Warsaw * Interna ...

agent, though at first business was slow. "We spent most of our time hanging around theatres asking actors if they wanted an agent. Most of the time they just told you to fuck off." Duncan Heath Associates was sold to the US-based talent agency

International Creative Management ICM Partners was a talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, D.C., and London. The company represented clients in the fields of motion pictures, television, music, publishing, live performance, branded e ...

(ICM) in 1985. In 1991, Duncan Heath Associates merged with ICM London, and Heath became

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the merged company.

Independent Talent Group

In 2002, he led a management buyout from ICM, returning the group to independence. In August 2007, at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

, he announced that ICM UK would be renamed Independent Talent Group, of which he is now co-chairman. His clients include

and Mike Newell. Independent Talent Group is Europe's largest talent agency, representing many of Britain's leading actors, writers, producers directors. Its clients include

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, Kit Connor,

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, and

. Heath is credited with thanks on nine films: ''Buster'' (1988), ''The Krays'' (1990), ''Onegin'' (1999), ''The Libertine'' (2005), '' Churchill: The Hollywood Years'' (2004),

A Cock and Bull Story ''A Cock and Bull Story'' (marketed in Australia, New Zealand and the United States as ''Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story'', and also credited as such) is a 2005 British comedy film directed by Michael Winterbottom. It is a Story within ...

(2005),

Still Alice ''Still Alice'' is a 2014 American drama film written and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland and based on the 2007 novel by Lisa Genova. It stars Julianne Moore as Alice Howland, a linguistics professor diagnosed with famili ...

(2014),

The Danish Girl ''The Danish Girl'' is a novel by American writer David Ebershoff, published in 2000 by the Viking Press in the United States and Allen & Unwin in Australia. The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Lili Elbe, one of the first tra ...

(2015), and

Stan and Ollie Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in th ...

(2018). In 2000, he was a jury member for the

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports, and promotes British independent cinema and film-making talent in the United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early Nov ...

Heath is credited as executive producer on five films: 2020: The Story of Us (2021), Last Song from Kabul (2023), Rainbow Warrior (2023), Klitschko: More Than a Fight (2024), and Death Without Mercy (2024).

Family life

Heath married actress

in 1974, although they were divorced in 1989. They have two children, Daniel and Laura. Laura Heath founded and runs the Hope-Martin Animal Foundation in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

.Article on Duncan and Laura Heath in 'Relative Values in the ''Sunday Times'', 2009
Retrieved 16 February 2010 Heath's second wife is film producer Lex Lutzus, with whom he has two children, Jacob and Edie Heath.

References

External links

Duncan Heath at www.bifa.org
Retrieved 16 February 2010 *
Official website of Independent Talent Group Ltd
Retrieved 16 February 2010
Article on Duncan and Laura Heath in 'Relative Values in the ''Sunday Times'', 2009
Retrieved 16 February 2010

Retrieved 16 February 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Duncan 1946 births Living people British talent agents