Foreword

As a kid, I remember people talking about how Harris Katleman was an iconic figure in entertainment. To me, he was just my grandfather. The only evidence of his career was the Emmy perched on his bar, the picture of him with Grace Kelly in the dining room, and the Simpsons pinball machine in his office. But none of these items seemed to define him—in my eyes, he was a charismatic patriarch with an undeniable presence in the room. It wasn’t until I graduated college and started working in the mailroom at WME, a major Hollywood agency, that I recognized my grandfather’s stature in the business. Eager to take full advantage of my tenure in entertainment graduate school, I started spending more time with him, if only to hear stories about his escapades in the business. I didn’t expect to stumble upon a treasure trove of industry wisdom. Not only did my grandfather have a scholar’s grasp on the history of Hollywood, he had savvy insight into the modern trends and active players in the game. I witnessed a new side of him—a side that explained how he had risen to such heights throughout his illustrious career.

As I embarked on a journey to co-write his life experiences, I learned a tremendous amount about the mechanics of the business. But my favorite part of the collaboration was observing my grandfather’s raw passion. This is a man who lives and breathes entertainment in the best way possible. We can only hope that his love and enthusiasm for quality programming endures throughout generations to come.

—NICK KATLEMAN

Preface

For the past several decades, I’ve held two family dinners at my house every year: one for Passover and one for the December holidays. I’ve had some bright moments over the course of my career, but I don’t know a greater joy than sitting with my family together at the dinner table. At some point during every meal, my grandchildren turn to me with lights in their eyes and ask a flurry of questions about my career in the entertainment business.

“How did you get your start in Hollywood?”

“How many famous people do you know?”

“Did you really run Fox Television?”

For years, I dodged their questions, not wanting to bore anyone with stories of a bygone career. But these questions caused me to reflect on my experiences representing talent at MCA, developing shows at Goodson Todman Productions, building a television slate at a production company of my own, and serving as president and chairman of the board at MGM and Twentieth Century Fox. The lessons I’ve learned not only reflect Hollywood during the dawn of television, they apply to the industry as it stands today. They’re also pretty damn entertaining. So I resolved to craft a book not only for my family, but for the future generations of the industry that I love so dearly. I hope that my brightest moments and greatest pitfalls can offer guidance to the rainmakers of tomorrow who are carving their own paths through the business.

As I sat down with my grandson to pen the morsels of wisdom I’ve acquired, my mind trailed off to the gravelly voice of Marvin Davis, the billionaire oilman who owned Twentieth Century Fox.

“Harris,” he told me, “if the Soviets drop a nuke, I want to be standing next to you. You’re the consummate survivor.”

I’m not sure that I’d make the best doomsday companion, but as I reflect upon the figures with whom I’ve interacted over the last sixty-five years, I must admit that my career’s been colorful. I’ve played ball with the titans of show business: Lew Wasserman, Jules Stein, Mark Goodson, Kirk Kerkorian, Barry Diller, Marvin Davis, Rupert Murdoch, and all the brightest stars of the mid-twentieth century. I’ve dedicated my vocation to sculpting narratives for consumption—artificial narratives that thwart the pull of everyday life. And still, the best stories I’ve experienced have been capped behind screens—in the boardrooms, offices, and restaurants of a desert town called Hollywood.

—HARRIS KATLEMAN