Hollywood remembers Bernie Brillstein
Hollywood Newsroom is now Buzz Newsroom! Visit and bookmark our new site. Buzz is bigger and better, including sports, world news, gadgets and the entertainment news that you're used to. Same staff, just more stuff! Why Fark, Drudge and Huffington when you can Buzz!?A high-wattage mix of showbiz talent, execs, agents and managers packed UCLA’s Royce Hall on Monday evening to remember Bernie Brillstein as a friend, mentor and industry icon.
Emcee Martin Short set a light but loving tone at the outset of the tribute to the pioneering manager and producer, who died Thursday at age 77.
“He used to say to me, ‘Kid, I’m going to get you a gig at Royce Hall if it kills me,’ ” Short quipped, to hearty applause.
Brillstein’s longtime business partner, Brad Grey, choked up as he recalled their “25-year love affair.”
Brillstein’s loyalty and respect for clients was highlighted by comic Jack Burns, who told the story of how Brillstein arranged an intervention when Burns was at the depths of his alcoholism.
“He told me, “I will stick by you, jobs or no jobs, as long as you try your very best (in rehab),’ ” Burns recalled. “It’s been 6,982 days since that meeting.
“I can literally say, I owe my life to Bernie. Not a career — my life.”
Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd gave a surprise perf as the Blues Brothers. (Brillstein exec produced the 1980 pic featuring his clients, John Belushi and Aykroyd.)
- from Variety