Upon hearing the news that Hollywood legend Bernie Brillstein died last night, I remembered an interview I did with him in 1999, which I have dug out of my archives for you. Brillstein, one of the most powerful and best-liked talent managers in the business, had just published his autobiography, “Where Did I Go Right? You’re No One In Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead”
On the air, we talked about his role in the birth of “Saturday Night Live” and the death of John Belushi. He also worked with Jim Henson for some three decades and was full of Muppets stories. And we touched on how he helped guide “Ghostbusters” to the big screen and save Rob Lowe’s career after two very public mistakes.
Towards the end, I asked Brillstein to name someone he was managing who wasn’t famous then but soon would be. The name he offered: Wayne Brady, who has parlayed his role on “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” into a pretty successful TV-and-Vegas career.
Listen to our conversation here.