Hollywood producer and agent Jay Kanter, 97, died on August 6. Kanter served in the Navy during WWII, then got jobs at MCA, Universal, The Ladd Corp., and MGM. He produced such films as X, Y and Zee, Villain, The Nightcomers, Fear Is the Key, Chariots of Fire, Body Heat, and Blade Runner. Kanter started his career as an agent when newcomer Marlon Brando took a liking to him and hired him. “Suddenly I was getting phone calls from all these heads of studios, and that was it,” Kanter recalled of his sudden elevation. His other clients included Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Warren Beatty, and Grace Kelly. Kanter was also the inspiration of Jack Lemmon’s character in The Apartment, as Kanter loaned his own flat to MCA’s Jennings Lang for a fling with Joan Bennett (Bennett’s husband, producer Walter Wanger, later shot Lang, non-fatally). “I think that’s where Billy Wilder got the idea for the movie,” Kanter later said. “He never told me. But it was quite obvious.” Kanter's friend Mel Brooks wrote, “I’ve known a lot of nice people in my life, but nobody nicer than Jay Kanter. If you knew him, you loved him. He was a loyal friend, always there when you needed him.”
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