Roy Gerber

LOS ANGELES -- Roy Gerber, a former talent agent and longtime talent manager who was the inspiration for the character of Oscar Madison in Neil Simon's comedy "The Odd Couple," has died. He was 82.

Gerber died Aug. 21 of complications of a brain tumor at his home in Beverly Hills, said his son, Bill Gerber.

As head of Roy Gerber and Associates from 1978 to 2002, Gerber managed a string of entertainers that included Diahann Carroll, Vic Damone, George Gobel, Shirley Jones, Jack Jones, Sid Caesar and Arsenio Hall, among others.

Gerber, who launched his career as a theatrical agent in New York after World War II -- he later recalled driving snake charmers and exotic dancers to jobs -- teamed up with Norman Weiss to form their own agency in the 1940s. After they achieved success booking acts into nightclubs, their agency was acquired by Music Corp. of America about 1953. MCA hired Gerber and Weiss as agents.

From 1954 to 1960, Gerber and associate Jim Murray were in charge of MCA's Las Vegas office, where they booked the Rat Pack, Betty Grable and other major entertainers into the city's clubs -- as well as entertainers represented by Gerber, such as Jerry Lewis, Edie Adams and Victor Borge.

In the early 1960s, he and Weiss joined General Artists Corp., where they represented the Beatles, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Mamas and the Papas, Johnny Rivers, Richard Pryor, Tom Jones and others.