Lou Weiss

In his three-hour interview, Lou Weiss (1918-2019) talks about his early years as an office boy for William Morris. He describes becoming an agent and spending several years representing various nightclub acts and Catskills comedians. He recounts the creation of the television department at William Morris, and talks of helping to create the notion of agencies "packaging" television shows for networks. Weiss recalls packaging several shows, including The Danny Thomas Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Four Star Playhouse, and Richard Diamond, Private Detective. He discusses the business aspects of television, including syndication and distribution. He speaks of the many people he has worked with and represented in his career, including Bill Cosby, Danny Thomas, Dick Powell, David Wolper, Barbara Walters, Howard Cosell, and his maternal uncle George Burns. Mark Wallace conducted the interview on April 29, 1998 with Sunny Parich conducting a brief follow-up on April 30, 1998, both in New York, NY.