Editing Ed Limato

{{Short description|American talent agent}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Ed Limato
| image       = 
| caption     =
| birth_name  = Edward Frank Limato
| birth_date  = {{birth date|mf=yes|1936|7|10}} 
| birth_place = [[Mount Vernon, New York]]
| death_date  = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2010|7|3|1936|7|10}}
| death_place = [[Beverly Hills, California]]
| height      = 
| occupation  = Talent agent
| years_active = 1966–2010 
| networth    =
| website     = 
}}
'''Edward Frank Limato''' (July 10, 1936 &ndash; July 3, 2010) was an American talent [[Talent agent|agent]] and a senior vice president at the [[William Morris Agency]], representing clients such as [[Michelle Pfeiffer]], [[Nicolas Cage]], [[Mel Gibson]], [[Steve Martin]], [[Diana Ross]], [[Richard Gere]], and [[Denzel Washington]].<ref name="latobit">Noland, Claire (July 4, 2010). [https://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-ed-limato-20100704,0,7306703.story?track=rss Ed Limato dies at 73; longtime Hollywood agent.] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''</ref> Before coming to WMA, Limato was a partner and co-president at [[International Creative Management]] for more than a decade, from 1988 to 1999.

==Life and career==
Limato grew up in a working-class Italian family in [[Mount Vernon, New York]].<ref name="bart1998">Bart, Peter (May 26, 1998). [https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117859632.html?categoryid=1&cs=1 It's still primetime for the Gatsby of agents.] ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''</ref> He worked as a [[disc jockey]] and traveled to Europe, where he got a job as assistant to [[Franco Zeffirelli]]. Zeffirelli's agent helped Limato get a mailroom job at [[Ashley-Famous]] Agency in New York. That agency eventually merged to become [[International Creative Management]] (ICM).

Limato transferred to Los Angeles, and he eventually moved to the [[William Morris Agency]]. He later returned to ICM, rising to co-president. He sued ICM in 2007 after they tried to move him to an ''emeritus'' position. Limato prevailed in the case and returned to William Morris with his clients.<ref name="nytobit">Barnes, Brooks (July 10, 2010). [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/movies/11limato.html Ed Limato, Flashy Old-School Talent Agent to the Stars, Dies at 73.] ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref>

Limato was on the board of directors at [[Abercrombie & Fitch]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Arbitrator sides with Ed Limato|url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970169.html?categoryid=18&cs=1 | work=Variety | first=Michael | last=Fleming | date=August 13, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Edward F Limato |url=https://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=8880861 | work=Forbes }}{{dead link|date=January 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} </ref> He also served on the boards of the [[Los Angeles Conservancy]], [[American Cinematheque]], and the [[Motion Picture and Television Fund]].<ref name="latobit"/> Limato died of [[emphysema]] complicated by [[pneumonia]] in his home in 2010, just one week short of his 74th birthday.<ref name="hwoodreporterobit">Jay A. Fernandez and Elizabeth Guider (July 3, 2010). [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3idce96ffced0fdefe9d83261bc68da71e Agent Ed Limato dies.] ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]''</ref>

==Legacy==
Both the 2010 film ''[[Unstoppable (2010 film)|Unstoppable]]'' and the 2012 film ''[[Flight (2012 film)|Flight]]'' include dedications to Limato.

The 2020 documentary ''[[P.S. Burn This Letter Please]]'' is based on a cache of hundreds of letters written to Limato, using his earlier radio presenter [[air name]] '''Reno Martin''', and unearthed in a Los Angeles storage unit in 2014. The letters, dating back to the 1950s, are from some of Limato's closest friends, many of whom were [[drag queen]]s in New York City. The letters represent "important written documents for drag queen history since most of these types of letters were destroyed out of fear."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hay |first1=Carla |title=Review: 'P.S. Burn This Letter Please' starring Henry Arango James Bidgood Michael Alonga Robert Bouvard Claude Diaz George Roth and Joseph Touchette |url=https://culturemixonline.com/review-p-s-burn-this-letter-please-starring-henry-arango-james-bidgood-michael-alonga-robert-bouvard-claude-diaz-george-roth-and-joseph-touchette/ |website=Culture Mix |publisher=Culture Mix Online |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|1862326}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091014021935/http://people.forbes.com/profile/edward-f-limato/511 Ed Limato profile] via ''[[Forbes]]''

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Limato, Ed}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from California]]
[[Category:American talent agents]]
[[Category:People from Mount Vernon, New York]]
[[Category:American people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from New York (state)]]


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