Gareth Wigan (December 2, 1931 – February 13, 2010) was a British agent, producer and studio executive known for working on such films as George Lucas's '' Star Wars''. His early recognition of the power of the global entertainment market allowed his employer, Sony Pictures Entertainment, to take advantage of films such as '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''.

Life and career

Gareth Wigan was born in London on December 2, 1931. After graduating from Oxford in 1952 with a B.A. Honours degree in English literature, he began his career as a literary agent in the London office of MCA. He eventually founded an agency with Richard Gregson, Gregson & Wigan. Among his clients was the British playwright Giles Cooper whose story, " Unman, Wittering and Zigo" originally written for radio, was the first film Wigan produced, directed by John Mackenzie and starring David Hemmings. Gregson and Wigan was sold to

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

in 1970 and Gareth Wigan subsequently moved to Los Angeles. Over the course of a 40-year career, Wigan rose from

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...

, to producer to studio head. Film credits include ''Star Wars'', '' Alien'', '' The Turning Point'', ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...

'', '' The Right Stuff'', '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'', '' Kick-Ass'' and others. He held numerous positions including Production Executive at

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

, co-Vice Chairman at Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, a co-founder at

The Ladd Company The Ladd Company was an American film production company founded by Alan Ladd Jr., Jay Kanter, and Gareth Wigan in 1979. In 1979, the three founders were executives with 20th Century Fox; Ladd was the president. They announced their intention ...

, production consultant at Columbia and more.

Death

Gareth Wigan died at his Los Angeles home on February 13, 2010 at the age of 78. Divorced by his first wife, Heather Germann, and pre-deceased by his second wife, Georgia Brown, he was survived by his third wife, Patricia Newcomb, and four children. A dedication to Wigan appears at the end credits of the 2010 film '' Kick-Ass''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigan, Gareth 1931 births 2010 deaths British film producers British emigrants to the United States Deaths from cancer in California Businesspeople from London People from Greater Los Angeles Alumni of the University of Oxford 20th-century English businesspeople