Irving Paul Lazar

Irving Paul (Swifty) Lazar, Hollywood's best-known literary and talent agent whose tenacious deal-making and star-studded client list made him a pioneer in the packaging of modern motion pictures, died in December 1993. Dubbed Swifty after he accepted a dare and made five movie deals in one day for his friend Humphrey Bogart, Lazar had since the 1940s commanded record-setting fees for hundreds of writers, producers, directors, choreographers, composers and lyricists around the world. The oldest of five sons, he grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn where his father, a German immigrant, owned a butter and egg wholesale business. Lazar went to Fordham University and then Brooklyn Law School, where one of his professors--recognizing Lazar's well-honed persuasive talents--hired him to solicit students for a Bar preparation class. Lazar made enough on commissions to finance what would become a lifelong habit: He almost always picked up the check. Lazar graduated in 1930, worked briefly in a Manhattan law office representing show business clients and became an agent at the Music Corporation of America.