Agent Paul Kohner Dies at 85

Paul Kohner, agent to such legendary stars as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Erich von Stroheim, died Wednesday night at UCLA Medical Center after a long illness. He was 85.

Kohner, a native of what is now Czechoslovakia, came to the United States in 1920 and found work as an office boy at Universal Pictures, where he rose to producer of such films as the silent version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” He established the Paul Kohner Agency in 1938. At the time of his death, Kohner was the agent for such stars as Charles Bronson, Liv Ullmann, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow, and directors Billy Wilder and Stanley Kramer. Kohner is survived by his wife of 56 years, Lopita; a son, producer Pancho Kohner; a daughter, actress Susan Kohner Weitz, and four grandchildren.