Hollywood mogul and former concert promoter Jerry Weintraub died on Monday at his home in Santa Barbara, Calif., the New York Times reports. He was 77 years old.
Weintraub was born in Brooklyn and raised in the Bronx by his jeweler father, according to the Associated Press. He worked in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency before landing a job at MCA as an advance man for the record company's artists. In 1970, Weintraub convinced Elvis Presley's manager, Col. Tom Parker, to let him promote Presley's upcoming live concerts. Weintraub introduced a modern sound system for Presley, and it put him at the forefront of concert promoters at the time. He would go on to work with artists like Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan and John Denver.
In 1977, Weintraub's working relationship with Denver led him to produce the film "Oh God!," and it enhanced Weintraub's film career, according to the New York Times.
Weintraub would go on to produce the hit films "Nashville" (1975), "Karate Kid" (1984) and the "Ocean's Eleven" trilogy. He left behind projects like the newly premiered HBO series "The Brink" starring Jack Black and Tim Robbins and the 2016 release of "Tarzan" starring Samuel L Jackson and Alexander Skarsgard, Variety reports. In a 2007 interview with Variety, Weintraub explained his love for show business.
"I'm an entrepreneur - I've been an independent guy all my life," he said. "I love doing what I do. I love the movies, I love actors, I love directors, I love writers, I love working with the studio, I love the marketing, I love the whole process."
