Film and television producer and manager Bernie Brillstein died 7 August 2008 of chronic pulmonary disease. Born Bernard J. Brillstein on 26 April 1931 in New York City, he was half of the management and production team Brillstein-Grey Productions before buying out his partner, Brad Grey, in 1996. He sold the renamed Brillstein Entertainment Partners to Paramount in 2005 (Grey is currently the chairman of the Paramount Motion Picture Group).
Brillstein graduated from New York University, served two years in the Army, and then started his career in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency. At WMA, he worked his way up to the publicity department, and then to a job as an agent booking talent for tv commercials. He left the company to join a new management agency known as Management III, in which he became a partner. Management III sent him to Los Angeles in 1967, and a year later, he left the company to form the Brillstein Company. He had a hand in the success of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. Brillsteain represented comedians and singers, including Muppets creator Jim Henson and most of the original cast of Saturday Night Live.
His genre work, mostly as a producer, include: What Planet are You From? (2000), ALF (1986-90), The Real Ghost Busters (1986, ’89), Ghostbusters II (1989), and Ghost Busters (1984).
He was the author of the memoir Where Did I Go Right?: You’re No One in Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead (1999), which was rereleased earlier this year.
Brillstein is survived by his wife, Carrie Brillstein; two daughters, Leigh and Kate; and three sons, Michael, David, and Nick.