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Ted Ashley (August 3, 1922 – August 24, 2002) was the chairman of the Warner Bros. film studio from 1969 to 1980 and founder of the
Ashley-Famous Ashley-Famous was a talent agency started in 1955 by talent agent Ted Ashley. The agency had a successful 16-year run under that name and owner; it was responsible for many hit television shows and had several famous clients. It changed ownership a ...
talent agency.


Biography

Ashley was born to a poor
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 ...
family in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
in 1922 as Theodore Assofsky. He graduated from Franklin K. Lane High School. At the age of 14, he went to work at 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 ag ...
where his uncle, Nat Lefkowitz, worked as a general manager (Lefkowitz would later rise to become president and then co-chairman of the William Morris Agency). At the age of 20, he became an agent for the agency and changed his name to "Ashley" as it sounded dignified and English. In 1945, despite the ire of his uncle, he started his own talent agency, Ted Ashley and Associates In 1950, he was joined by William Morris agent Ira L. Steiner and the agency was renamed the Ashley-Steiner Agency. In 1962, he purchased the Famous Artists Agency from
Charles K. Feldman Charles K. Feldman (April 26, 1905 – May 25, 1968) was a Hollywood attorney, film producer and talent agent who founded the Famous Artists talent agency. According to one obituary, Feldman disdained publicity. "Feldman was an enigma to Holly ...
and renamed the agency Ashley-Steiner-Famous Artists. In 1964, Steiner resigned to form his own film production company and the agency was renamed Ashley-Famous. In 1967, the agency was sold to Kinney National Company in exchange for 12,750,000 in Kinney stock. Ashley made the sale for personal reasons, indicating that he did not want to be an agent anymore. In an interview, Ashley quotes, “There's something undermining to one's sense of one's self about that whole relationship” (referencing the agent and client partnership). In 1969, Kinney head Steve Ross acquired the cash-strapped film company Warner Bros.-Seven Arts at Ashley's suggestion. The purchase was made and Ashley was appointed CEO of the movie studio where he served until 1981. Beginning with the unexpected success of the concert documentary ''
Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
'' (1970), the company started scoring box office hits again, reestablishing Warner Bros. as a major studio. He then became vice chairman of
Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
until his retirement in 1988.


Personal life

Ashley was married three times. In 1945, he married 18-year-old Constance "Connie" Sitomar. She later worked at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in New York. His second wife was Joyce Easton (born 1930), a character actress on television shows such as ''
Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...
''; they married in 1978 after a lengthy relationship. She had occasionally represented Ashley when he was absent from Warner Bros board meetings, without herself being employed by Warner. Together, Easton and Ashley participated in
Erhard Seminars Training Erhard Seminars Training (marketed as est, though often encountered as EST or Est) was an organization, founded by Werner Erhard in 1971, that offered a two-weekend (6-day, 60-hour) course known officially as "The est Standard Training". The sem ...
around 1975. By 1990, he was living with his third wife, Page Cuddy. He died aged 80 in New York of
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
, after a long illness. He had two biological daughters: Fran Curtis Dubin and Diane Ashley; and two adopted daughters, Kim Balin and Banhi SinclairNew York Times: "Ted Ashley, 80, Former Head of Warner Brothers" By ALAN FEUER
August 26, 2002
Los Angeles Times: "Ted Ashley, 80; Talent Agent Also Ran Warner Bros. Studio" by Myrna Oliver
August 26, 2002
whom he and his third wife adopted after the death of actress Ina Balin. Ashley was good friends with
Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines th ...
.


References


External links


Deathwatch Ted Ashley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley, Ted 1922 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American film studio executives 20th-century American Jews American talent agents Businesspeople from New York (state) Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from leukemia Warner Bros. people 21st-century American Jews