Shep E. Gordon (born October 18, 1945) is an American

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

film agent, and producer. Gordon is featured in a 2013 documentary, '' Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon'', which was directed by

Mike Myers Michael John Myers OC (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. His accolades include seven MTV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywoo ...

Life and education

Gordon was born in 1945 in

Jackson Heights, Queens Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. Jackson Heights is neighbored by North Corona to the east, Elmhurst to the south, Woodside to the west, northern Astoria ( Ditmars-Steinwa ...

. He obtained his B.A. in 1968 from the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

. While attending, he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. He attended

The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSS ...

for post-graduation work. He then moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, taking on a job as a probation officer.

Music career

After being introduced to the band

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

by drummer Neal Smith's sister Cindy Smith, he and his partner Joe Greenberg began to manage the group in 1968. Gordon went on to represent

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

, Blondie,

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

Ben Vereen Benjamin Augustus Vereen (born October 10, 1946) is an American actor, dancer and singer. Vereen gained prominence for his performances in the original Broadway productions of the musicals '' Jesus Christ Superstar'', for which he received a T ...

Burton Cummings Burton Lorne Cummings (born December 31, 1947) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for leading The Guess Who during that band's most successful period from 1965 to 1975, and for a lengthy solo career. Cummings has ...

, The Calloways,

Difford and Tilbrook Difford & Tilbrook are the songwriting team of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, known for their work as the principal writers for the new wave rock band Squeeze. In addition to playing guitar for the band, they are responsible for the group's ...

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer, known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice. ...

Gary Wright Gary Malcolm Wright (born April 26, 1943) is an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs "Dream Weaver" and " Love Is Alive", and for his role in helping establish the synthesizer as a leading instrument in rock and pop ...

, George Clinton,

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, th ...

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz violinist and composer. Early life Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano. At sixteen, he was admitt ...

Johnny Clegg Jonathan Paul Clegg, (7 June 195316 July 2019) was a South African musician, singer-songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist, some of whose work was in musicology focused on the music of indigenous South African people ...

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

King Sunny Ade King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

Lisa Fischer Lisa Fischer (born December 1, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She found success with her 1991 debut album ''So Intense'', which produced the Grammy Award–winning hit single "How Can I Ease the Pain". She has been a back-up singer ...

Majek Fashek Majekodunmi Fasheke, popularly known as Majek Fashek (March 1963 – 1 June 2020) was a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His 1988 album ''Prisoner of Conscience'' included the single "Send Down the Rain", which won six PMAN Music Awards ...

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the ...

Michelle Shocked Michelle Shocked (born Karen Michelle Johnston; February 24, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter. Her music has entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and received an award f ...

Mtume Mtume (pronounced ''em-tu-may'') was an American funk and soul group that rose to prominence during the early 1980s and had several R&B hits during its career. Its founder, former percussionist James Mtume, previously played and toured with ...

New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred t ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blu ...

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in '' Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hamm ...

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

, Sarah Miles,

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as " Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical '' The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song "Home" from ...

and

Yvonne Elliman Yvonne Marianne Elliman (born December 29, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who performed for four years in the first cast of the stage musical ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. She scored a number of hits in the 1970s and achieved ...

. He continues to manage Alice Cooper to this day without a contract. Gordon was a partner with Sammy Hagar (of

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

) on Cabo Wabo Tequila. He also partnered with

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

to create Old Whiskey River Bourbon.

Culinary career

In 1993 Gordon created Alive Culinary Resources, the first talent agency to represent chefs. In the words of

Emeril Lagasse Emeril John Lagassé III ( ; born October 15, 1959) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, cookbook author, and National Best Recipe award winner for his "Turkey and Hot Sausage Chili" recipe in 2003. He is a regi ...

, “He single-handedly created celebrity chefs." His client list has included Celestino Drago,

Charlie Trotter Charles Trotter (September 8, 1959 – November 5, 2013) was an American chef and restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a ...

, Daniel Boulud,

Dean Fearing William Dean Fearing (born 1955) is an American chef known as one of the earliest stars of Southwestern Cuisine."J.L. Becker. "Puttin' on the Ritz: Dean Fearing put Southwestern cuisine on the map at The Mansion on Turtle Creek. He's now moving ...

, Jimmy Schmidt, Jonathan Waxman,

Larry Forgione Larry Forgione (born 1952) is a chef in the United States. He is known for his work at the An American Place restaurant in New York City and several notable chefs apprenticed with him (including Christina Machamer, David Shalleck, Melissa Kelly ...

Lydia Shire Lydia Shire (born 1948) is a Boston-based chef and restaurateur. Early life and education Born in Connecticut and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, both of her parents were illustrators. Shire began cooking as early as age four alongside her ...

, Mark Miller, Mark Tarbell, Nobu Matsuhisa, Peter Merriman, Piero Selvaggio,

Pino Luongo Giuseppe "Pino" Luongo (born 1952/1953) is an American-based Italian restaurateur, businessman, and memoirist. He owned or co-owned current and former restaurants including Il Cantinori, Le Madri, Centolire, Coco Pazzo (New York and Chicago), ...

, Rovert Del Grande,

Roger Vergé Roger Vergé (, 7 April 1930 – 5 June 2015) was a French chef and restaurateur. He is considered one of the greatest chefs of his time. The Gault Millau described him as "the very incarnation of the great French chef for foreigners". Personal ...

Roy Yamaguchi Roy Yamaguchi (born 1956) is a Japanese-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and founder of a collection of restaurants, including 30 Roy's Restaurants in the United States and Guam, the Tavern by Roy Yamaguchi and Eating House 1849. He is one ...

, Sam Choy,

Wolfgang Puck Wolfgang Johannes Puck (born July 8, 1949) is an Austrian-American chef and restaurateur. Early life and career Puck was born in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria. He learned cooking from his mother, who was a pastry chef. He took the surname ...

, and

Alan Wong Alan Wong is a chef and restaurateur known as one of 12 co-founders (along with Sam Choy, Roy Ambel Yamaguchi, Peter Merriman, Bev Gannon and more) of Hawaii Regional Cuisine. They came together to form an organization to create a new American r ...

Restaurant partnerships

He has partnered in legendary restaurants including Tribeca Grill, Carlos'n Charlie's, Spice Market, and Maui Tacos (sold to

Blimpie Blimpie International, Inc., doing business as Blimpie (stylized as BLiMPiE), is an American submarine sandwich chain based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was founded in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1964, by three friends, and has since endured three ow ...

). Gordon and Roy Yamaguchi were the

Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Aust ...

franchisees for Hawaii, and are now partnered in Humble Market Kitchen at the Wailea Beach Resort.

Speaking engagements

Gordon has spoken at various events;

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

, Summit at Sea, and 92Y. He delivered the 2015 baccalaureate address at the

Culinary Institute of America Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...

Film career

Gordon's first film as a producer, ''

The Duellists ''The Duellists'' is a 1977 British historical drama film and the feature film directorial debut of Ridley Scott. It won the Best Debut Film award at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. The basis of the screenplay is the Joseph Conrad short story "T ...

'', won the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

in 1977. He went on to create one of the first independent film production companies in the U.S., Alive Films, who made ''

Roadie The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This ca ...

'' (1980) starring Meat Loaf. In 1983, Alive formed a partnership with

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

to create Island Alive who made and distributed films including ''

Koyaanisqatsi ''Koyaanisqatsi'' (), also known as ''Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance'', is a 1982 American experimental non-narrative film directed and produced by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke. The f ...

'', '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'', ''

Stop Making Sense ''Stop Making Sense'' is a 1984 American concert film featuring a live performance by the American rock band Talking Heads. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 198 ...

'' and '' Choose Me''. The partnership was dissolved in 1985. ''

Whales of August Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and p ...

'' was produced after the split. Gordon also was Executive Producer on Wes Craven's '' Shocker'' and ''

The People Under The Stairs ''The People Under the Stairs'' is a 1991 American horror comedy film written and directed by Wes Craven and starring Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, and A. J. Langer. The plot follows a young boy and two adult robbers who become ...

'', as well as John Carpenter's '' Prince of Darkness'' and '' Village of the Damned''.

directed '' Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon'', a documentary on Shep's life, distributed theatrically by

The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America pri ...

in 2013.Amy Kaufman
"Mike Myers to direct documentary about talent manager Shep Gordon"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', July 22, 2013. It featured

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AF ...

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...

and

Sammy Hagar Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo car ...

. Gordon's memoir is titled, ''They Call Me Supermensch: A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock 'n' Roll''. It was released on September 20, 2016, published through Anthony Bourdain's

Harper Collins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

imprint, and debuted on the

New York Times Best Seller List ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

Awards

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

Distinguished Alumni Award *Hawaii Restaurant Association Hall Of Fame Inductee *Maui Film Festival Maverick Award * Fest Forward Lifetime Achievement Award *National Conference of Personal Managers Hall of Fame Inductee * Tibet Fund Friend of Tibet Award *Hawaii European Cinema Maverick Award *Hawaii Food And Wine Festival Honoree * The Culinary Institute of America Leadership Award

Philanthropy

Gordon serves on the board of the Tibet Fund with the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

, and has had the honor of cooking for him on numerous occasions. He produced a visit of the Dalai Lama to

in 2006 and

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, whic ...

in 2007. Gordon produces an annual benefit dinner in Maui, and has provided over 1,000,000 meals for those in need since 2008. In 2016, Gordon helped create a permanent scholarship at the Culinary Institute of America in honor of his late mentor, Roger Vergé. Shep serves on the boards of The Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Reel FX, and the Tibet Fund. In 2017, he became a trustee of The Culinary Institute of America.

References

External links

NPR's Fresh Air for June 9 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Shep 1945 births Film producers from New York (state) Living people People from Jackson Heights, Queens University at Buffalo alumni Jewish American philanthropists Talent managers Philanthropists from New York (state) 21st-century American Jews