LOS ANGELES -- Sam Weisbord, who started as a 17-year-old trainee at the William Morris Agency and rose to become co-chairman of the world's oldest and largest talent firm, died Wednesday of cancer. He was 74.
Weisbord spent his entire working life of 57 years at the firm, where he represented such entertainers as Al Jolson, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Nancy Reagan and Frank Sinatra, whose career he resurrected by helping persuade Columbia Pictures to cast the singer in 'From Here to Eternity.'
He first joined the company in 1929 at the age of 17. Two years later, he became assistant to the firm's late founder, Abe Lastfogel. In 1945, he transferred from New York to Los Angeles, where he began a steady climb in the company's leadership.
He served successively as senior agent, member of the board of directors, executive vice president, president and chief executive officer and then co-chairman with the late Morris Stoller. At the time of his death, Weisbord was chairman emeritus of the agency.
At a recent anniversary celebration of the William Morris Agency, he said, 'The achievement that I am most proud of is my unshakeable love and loyalty to the William Morris Agency.'
He also served on the board of directors for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he died; the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas; The Motion Picture and Television Fund; and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Weisbord, who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., is survived by his sister, Mildred Granoff and her husband, Harold, of Miami Beach, Fla., and numerous nephews and nieces.
Memorial services will be held Friday in Los Angeles. He will be buried at Mount Nebo in Dade County, Florida.
