Gene Parseghian, Veteran Manager and Talent Agent, Dies at 72

Gene Parseghian, the co-founder of the Parseghian Planco management and production company that represented the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis, Eddie Redmayne, Judi Dench and Betty Buckley, died Thursday. He was 72.

Angela Carbonetti, his associate for 22 years, told The Hollywood Reporter that Parseghian died of cancer at his home in Manhattan.

In 1999, Parseghian left William Morris and teamed with Johnnie Planco to launch the New York-based Parseghian Planco with a roster that also included Lauren Bacall, Christopher Walken, Franco Zeffirelli and Peter Bogdanovich.

A native of Oneonta, N.Y., Parseghian was aiming for a career as an actor, studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and at Stanford, but he became an agent in the late 1970s. He eventually teamed with John Kimble to open their own firm, and through a series of mergers they and others formed Triad Artists in 1985.

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Parseghian then spent several years as a senior vp at William Morris after it acquired Triad in 1993.

On working with Day-Lewis, he said in 2001: “There have been times when he’s gone for as long as three years between films. When I tell people that he’s not interested in working, that he doesn’t want to read any material or hear about anything, they have such a hard time understanding.

“With Daniel, his life is more important to him. And I think I work better with actors who are focused on living lives rather than living careers. People who hand themselves over to their careers often end up living alone, very alone.”

Parseghian also represented actors including Martha Plimpton, Isabella Rossellini, Julie Andrews, Cate Blanchett, Kit Harington, Kathleen Turner, Olympia Dukakis and Billy Connolly during his career.

Survivors include his husband Michael and their daughter Rachel.