A Power in the Entertainment Industry : Morris Talent Agency’s Lee Stevens Dies

Lee Stevens, who began as a mail clerk with the giant William Morris Agency and three decades later became the talent group’s sixth president, died Thursday night of cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was 58.

Stevens, whose personal clients included such celebrities as Barbara Walters (whom he gave away at her wedding to studio executive Merv Adelson), Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Angela Lansbury, Geraldo Rivera and many others, had one of the most responsible jobs in the entertainment industry--he was ultimately responsible for the television money that rolled into the agency for packaging shows and for real estate investments. It was profit-sharing from those ventures that was credited with making Morris the largest company of its kind.

Born in New York City, Stevens held an accounting degree from the New York University School of Commerce. He joined Morris after two years in the Army and briefly worked in the mail room before becoming a secretary to Nat Lefkowitz, later an agency president.

Stevens studied law at night and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1957. After five years in Morris’ business affairs department, where he learned the intricacies of the various film, television and literary components that made up the Morris concern, he became Lefkowitz’s top aide. That was 1962, and by 1980 he had worked his way up to head of the New York office.

Four years later he was president and chief executive officer and among the most powerful men in the entertainment industry.

Even as president, he continued to guide the careers of his own stable of stars while commuting regularly to both coasts. Most recently he had relocated to Beverly Hills.

His charities and professional affiliations were numerous. He was vice president, Western States of American Friends of Hebrew University, a member of the International Radio and Television Society, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and co-chairman of the Show Biz Bash East for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America.

Survivors include his wife, Lizabeth, and three children. A funeral service will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at Hillside Memorial Park.

The family is asking donations to the Barbara and Marvin Davis Research Building at Cedars-Sinai.