UTA Co-Founder Gary Cosay Dies at 92
The pioneering talent agent helped shape the modern TV showrunner role before co-founding UTA.
Gary Cosay, who co-founded United Talent Agency (UTA) in 1991, has died at the age of 92. Though he had taken a step back from the agency many years ago, he was beloved among UTA staff.
Accomplishments:
Working with agencies since the 1960s, he was crucial in representing TV writers and developing the modern showrunner as an essential element of the entertainment business.
He helped to package historic sitcoms including “Married … with Children,” “The Wonder Years,” “Growing Pains,” and “The Drew Carey Show.”
These are some of the many shows that achieved major syndication deals, leading to immense income for UTA and Cosay’s other agencies.
History:
Cosay started his career as an assistant at William Morris.
He joined Creative Management Associates in 1973 before starting his own agency, Cosay, Werner & Associates, two years later.
He then merged that agency with literary agents Jim Berkus and Robert Stein to form Berkus-Cosay-Stein in 1982.
The next merger was with Robert Littman Co. to launch Leading Artists in 1983.
Then Leading Artists merged with the Bauer-Benedek agency, and UTA was born.
What they said:
Jay Sures, Partner and Vice Chairman of UTA: “Gary Cosay was a true original whose integrity and extraordinary contributions to the entertainment industry left a lasting mark on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. As one of the original founders of UTA, he was a fierce advocate for representing writers with vigor and passion and, at the same time, teaching younger agents the secret sauce for success. All of us at UTA will miss him dearly.”
👋 Disclosures & Transparency Block
This article was written with information sourced from Variety.
We covered it because Cosay co-founded one of the largest agencies in the world.
