The tall, bespectacled Wasserman, who preferred to keep a low profile in a high-profile business, was the long-time head of MCA Inc., a talent agency that he, in partnership with the late Jules C. Stein, expanded into a worldwide entertainment conglomerate, the parent company to Universal Studios.
Like the hero of one of Universal's most popular hits BACK TO THE FUTURE, Wasserman seemed to have insight into the future. He was considered by many to be the man who virtually invented the synergy that now prevails at the giant media companies. During his 50-plus years with MCA, the company became a powerhouse in the movie, music, consumer products, broadcast, home video, theme park and television businesses.
In a statement, Disney CEO Michael Eisner called Wasserman "a visionary who saw the enormous potential of our industry to create engaging works of both commerce and art for audiences across America and around the world."
Wasserman is also credited with establishing the careers of many important filmmakers, including, most notably, Steven Spielberg.
Wasserman's influence extended beyond Hollywood -- he was a long time friend of Ronald Reagan but also, as a committed Democrat, one of the earliest backers of Bill Clinton.
Though prominent in the insider circles and social pages of Washington, D.C., and Hollywood, Wasserman shunned the public spotlight and rarely agreed to be interviewed. He described himself once as "just a paper-pusher" but earned a reputation as a tough businessman. In its obituary, the Associated Press notes Wasserman's famous response to a journalist who once dared ask about his reported ruthlessness at the negotiating table: "If negotiating in an attempt to arrive at a favorable deal comes under the heading of being hard, I would stipulate that I'm hard," Wasserman replied. "Actually, I don't think the word 'ruthless' fits our time. It is outmoded. It's a carryover from robber-baron days."
Thom Mount, president of motion picture development during some of Wasserman's hands-on years at Universal, was among many in the Industry saddened by the mogul's passing. "Lew had in abundance three great qualities largely missing from Hollywood today," Mount, now an executive at RKO, told E! Online. "He had unimpeachable personal dignity -- when Lew made a deal with you and said, 'It's a deal,' it was then, and forever... He was marvelous at uniting opposing forces, because he realized you couldn't move forward if you didn't move together... [And] he was an incredibly smart, conceptual dealmaker, always able to see the long term rather than just the immediate consequences."
In 1986, Wasserman celebrated his 50 years with MCA and his 50 years of happy marriage to his wife, Edie, whom he had met shortly before he signed on as national advertising manager with Music Corporation of America, then simply a booking agency founded by Stein.
Born in Cleveland, the son of Jewish immigrants, Wasserman's first contact with show-biz was as a 12-year-old, selling candy in a burlesque house. In high school, he had worked as a movie-theater usher. By 1946 he had risen through the ranks at MCA to become president.
Eventually chairman and chief executive, he owned 6.9 percent of the company's stock and, through a variety of trusts, controlled more than 15 percent. He is reputed to have earned $350 million in 1990 when the company was sold to the Japanese electronics company, Matsushita for $6.6 billion. When Seagram took over five years later, Wasserman retired with the title of chairman emeritus, but until 1998 remained on the board of directors of the company, which is now owned by Vivendi.
In its 2000 rundown of the most powerful Hollywood players of the last century, the Hollywood Reporter ranked Wasserman on top.
While a fierce powerbroker, Wasserman was also known for his philanthropy. Over the years he donated $5 million to the Motion Picture and Television Fund and established a $1 million scholarship fund at the California Institute of the Arts. At the 1974 Oscar ceremonies, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his charity work.
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award 1973.
1 Honorary Award