Michael Stuart Rosenfeld (June 28, 1934 – March 25, 2010) was a

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 sport ...

, movie

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, and co-founder of

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 emplo ...

Early life

Rosenfeld was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to Maxwell S. Rosenfeld, who became a Pennsylvania state senator, and Edith Rosenfeld. He graduated from

Lower Merion High School Lower Merion High School is a public high school in Ardmore, a community in Philadelphia's Main Line suburbs. It is one of two high schools in the Lower Merion School District; the other one is Harriton High School. Lower Merion serves both Lowe ...

and

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

, where he earned his bachelor's degree. He was of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent.

Career

In 1975, Rosenfeld,

Michael Ovitz Michael Steven Ovitz (born December 14, 1946) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was a talent agent who co-founded Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 1975 and served as its chairman until 1995. Ovitz later served as preside ...

, Bill Haber,

Ronald Meyer Ronald Meyer (born September 25, 1944) is an American entertainment executive and former talent agent. He co-founded Creative Artists Agency in 1975, and served as the President and Chief Operating Officer at Universal Studios Inc. from 1995-2013 ...

, and Rowland Perkins left the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent a ...

left to form

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

Later life

In 1986, Rosenfeld left CAA to become an

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

of films, including Thrashin',

Flowers in the Attic ''Flowers in the Attic'' is a 1979 Gothic novel by V. C. Andrews. It is the first book in the Dollanganger Series, and was followed by '' Petals on the Wind'', '' If There Be Thorns'', '' Seeds of Yesterday'', '' Garden of Shadows'', '' Christop ...

, and work in television with

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-nominated ''Case of the Hillside Stranglers''. He moved to

Sonoma Valley Sonoma Valley is a valley located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as the birthplace of the California wine industry, the valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards an ...

to share his love of flight, giving new pilots their instrument rating and sending them on their way to their pilots license. He continued his close friendships with

and industry friends.

Death

He died of respiratory failure at a

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

hospital. He is survived by his sons Michael A. Rosenfeld, Max Rosenfeld, Jackson Rosenfeld, and his daughter Molly Rosenfeld.

Notes

External links

* 1934 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews American company founders American talent agents Deaths from respiratory failure Lower Merion High School alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni People from Philadelphia {{US-film-producer-stub