was trying to establish a client base in LA, she took a liking to me and would throw me small gigs every so often shooting headshots or events or whatnot of clients she represented through her PR company in the Beverly Hills/Hollywood area. It was perfect for me during my transition from photojournalist to, well, whatever it was I was transitioning into...at the time, I wasn't sure. Later, when my career was established we would often see each other when I was shooting her clients for magazine spreads.Carrie's energy was always warm and joyful and a pleasure to work around. We fell out of touch for one reason or another in the mid 90's until a couple of years later. I got a call from Bernie Brillstein's office to help coordinate a editorial shoot I was to do at his home. During this pretty standard preproduction discussion the subject of his wife Carrie came up, but I never made the connection.... until I arrived at their door and it became old home week.
What really struck me was how different Carrie and Bernie were physically (she is a slim, strikingly attractive brunette and he is...well, he looks liked Santa Claus) yet they were energetic reflections of each other.. upbeat, gracious, warm, and funny....there was a lot of obvious love going back and forth between them too. Bernie treated me like I was his old friend, returning from out of the blue instead of his wife's. In spite of his legendary presence in Hollywood, he was a down to earth, class act. His bawdy sense of humor kept our crew laughing the whole time. It was a wonderful and memorable day for me. In spite of only meeting him a few hours earlier, I left feeling like I was a old friend of the family.
Here are a couple of excerpts from Nikki Finke's obit on Bernie's passing. It will surely make you smile...as it did I. You can read the entire article here: Deadline Hollywood/RIP Bernie Brillstein
"At Morris, a colleague asked Brillstein to meet with a little-known puppeteer, Jim Henson, whose acts included Kermit the Frog and Rowlf the Dog. Brillstein signed him immediately and then booked him on the Jimmy Dean Show. Two months after Brillstein left Morris, Jim Henson called and said, “I need you.” Over the next decade, Brillstein made a fortune representing not only Henson but also the producing team of John Aylesworth and Frank Peppiatt. The producers came up with an idea for a corn-pone version of Laugh-In for the country-western set called Hee Haw and, in 1969, Brillstein helped package the show to CBS. Though the network cancelled the show in 1971, Hee Haw was sold into syndication, where it ran for another 23 years, becoming one of the longest-running shows in TV history, pulling in millions of dollars in licensing fees and making Brillstein a rich man.
By 1975, Brillstein was one of the hottest personal managers and TV packagers in the entertainment business. In that year alone, he sold both The Muppet Show, brainchild of puppeteer Jim Henson, and Saturday Night Live, created by Lorne Michaels. The story behind SNL is now legendary, but it bears repeating: when Michaels and Brillstein came to pitch the idea of SNL to NBC, the network executives simply stared at the men. “They said, ‘Who are these Jews from California?’ They absolutely hated us,” Brillstein remarked. When SNL's first show generated 200 complaints, NBC wanted to pull the plug. It was Brillstein who fought to keep it on the air. “You idiots,” Brillstein told them. “Don’t you realize you have a hit here?”
As SNL grew in the ratings, so did the popularity of its cast, and almost overnight the show produced break-out stars in Second City alumni John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, who all relied solely on Brillstein’s managerial advice and support. The first time Brillstein met John Belushi was 15 minutes before the first taping of Saturday Night Live. Two days earlier, NBC’s legal department had sent Belushi an interim employment agreement. The actor was worried about a small clause that said NBC had the right to cancel his contract if the comedian were “disfigured.” Now, with the cameras ready to roll, the actor still hadn’t signed. An NBC executive was desperately pleading with him to sign the agreement when Belushi leaned over to Brillstein and asked, “Would you sign this contract?”
“I designed the fucking contract,” Brillstein replied. “And you can always break it.”
By 1975, Brillstein was one of the hottest personal managers and TV packagers in the entertainment business. In that year alone, he sold both The Muppet Show, brainchild of puppeteer Jim Henson, and Saturday Night Live, created by Lorne Michaels. The story behind SNL is now legendary, but it bears repeating: when Michaels and Brillstein came to pitch the idea of SNL to NBC, the network executives simply stared at the men. “They said, ‘Who are these Jews from California?’ They absolutely hated us,” Brillstein remarked. When SNL's first show generated 200 complaints, NBC wanted to pull the plug. It was Brillstein who fought to keep it on the air. “You idiots,” Brillstein told them. “Don’t you realize you have a hit here?”
As SNL grew in the ratings, so did the popularity of its cast, and almost overnight the show produced break-out stars in Second City alumni John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, who all relied solely on Brillstein’s managerial advice and support. The first time Brillstein met John Belushi was 15 minutes before the first taping of Saturday Night Live. Two days earlier, NBC’s legal department had sent Belushi an interim employment agreement. The actor was worried about a small clause that said NBC had the right to cancel his contract if the comedian were “disfigured.” Now, with the cameras ready to roll, the actor still hadn’t signed. An NBC executive was desperately pleading with him to sign the agreement when Belushi leaned over to Brillstein and asked, “Would you sign this contract?”
“I designed the fucking contract,” Brillstein replied. “And you can always break it.”
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