HOLLYWOOD, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Executives at the Creative Artists Agency paid tribute this weekend to Marty Baum, one of their pivotal early talent agents, who died Friday at the age of 86.
Baum is credited with helping CAA sign big names such as Paul Newman and Dustin Hoffmann and put the fledgling agency on track to become one of the most powerful in Hollywood history.
"To those of us in his CAA family, Marty was a hero," the agency said in a written statement. "He was not only a brilliant agent, but a generous mentor to so many. We are grateful to have known Marty as a dear friend and colleague and will always be indebted to him for his inspiration and wisdom."
Funeral plans were not immediately announced nor was the cause and place of Baum's death, the Hollywood Reporter said Saturday.
The Reporter said Baum got his start representing Broadway actors and later represented movie immortals such as Bette Davis, Sidney Poitier and Rock Hudson. He later moved to ABC Motion Pictures where he was a producer on projects including the Oscar-winning "Cabaret."
