Agent Ed Limato bids Hollywood goodbye at 73

The late Ed Limato.

Ed Limato, 73-year-old and a veteran Hollywood agent, died Saturday of lung disease at his home in Beverly Hills, Christian Muirhead, a representative of the William Morris Endeavor Entertainment agency said.

Born as Edward Frank Limato on July 10, 1936, in Mt. Vernon, New York, he  worked as a disc jockey in Florida and Louisiana and as an assistant to director Franco Zeffirelli in Rome before getting his first job at a talent agency.

In 1966, he started sorting mail for the Ashley Famous Agency in New York. It became the International Famous Agency and, later, International Creative Management, and he became an agent. He moved to the West Coast and, in 1978, jumped to the William Morris Agency where he spent 10 years.

He then returned to ICM and after a dispute with company management in 2007, he sued to break his contract and went back to William Morris.

Limato’s client list was graced by big stars such as Kevin Costner, Billy Crystal, Richard Gere, Mel Gibson, Steve Martin, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sharon Stone and Denzel Washington. The longtime Hollywood agent is reputed for having nurtured remarkably genuine friendships with many of the stars he represented.

“Many agents tend to look at talent as a commodity today, to help their own careers,” Limato stated in a 2005 Variety profile. “I still think of talent as something to be served. If you believe in a client, you stick with them through the ups and downs.”