Talent agent Cossette dead at age 85

MONTREAL, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Talent agent Pierre Cossette, the man responsible for bringing the Grammy Awards to television, has died in Montreal at the age of 85, his spokesman says.

Cossette's spokesman Richard Hoffman said the talent agent who convinced TV officials to begin broadcasting the Grammys as a live event died of congestive heart failure on Friday, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Cossette said in a 2003 interview that convincing TV executives to show the Grammy Awards live on television was problematic during the 1960s when music revolved around rock and roll.

"The networks were not into kids with makeup and long hair and spiked heels," Cossette said.

"Finally one network said, 'If you can get Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin or Andy Williams to host, we'll buy the show.' And I jumped all over Andy Williams."

Thanks to Cossette's efforts, the Grammy Awards appeared live for the time on ABC on March 16, 1971.

The Times said Cossette, who also played a vital role in the creation of the Latin Grammy, is survived by his wife, Mary; his sons, Andrew and John; five stepchildren, John Ufland, Anne Casey, Christopher Ufland, Jennifer Bontempo and Joslin Weiner; and eight grandchildren.