‘Broker to the Stars’ found dead in her N.Y. penthouse

A Manhattan real estate agent who moved in elite Hollywood and music industry circles and helped establish the celebrity broker persona was killed in her Central Park apartment, according to New York police and the city medical examiner.

Linda Stein, a brash presence on New York’s celebrity real estate scene who brokered multimillion-dollar deals for Billy Joel, Sting and Steven Spielberg, was found dead in a pool of blood in her Fifth Avenue penthouse about 11 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

The city medical examiner later said Stein, 62, was killed by blunt-force trauma to the back of the head and neck. Police were treating her death as a homicide. There was no weapon found and no sign of forced entry, police said.

Author Steven Gaines, who met Stein in the early 1970s and later wrote about her in “The Sky’s the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan,” said news of her death stunned her circle of friends Wednesday. “We’re absolutely positive that no one who knew her . . . could have done this,” Gaines said. “She had no enemies of that kind.”

“I just can’t imagine this,” said Dottie Herman, a longtime friend and chief executive of Prudential Douglas Elliman, where Stein maintained a high-profile client list. “This just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Police said Stein was found dead in the living room of her 18th-floor, one-bedroom penthouse by Mandy Stein, one of her two daughters. Mandy Stein last saw her alive at 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to police sources, and had let herself into the apartment with a key.

Stein was born in Manhattan and was a teacher when she met Seymour Stein, co-founder of Sire Records, Gaines said. During their marriage in the 1970s, the company helped launch the careers of the Ramones, Talking Heads and Madonna, among others.

Stein, a quick-witted, often bawdy character who fit in well with the rock ‘n’ roll culture, befriended several luminaries, including Elton John, who later became godfather to one of her daughters, Gaines said.

“These people liked her because she was sophisticated, bright,” said Gaines, whose chapter title “Broker to the Stars” became Stein’s moniker. “Bob Dylan used to call her on the telephone at 2 a.m. to chat; I kid you not.”

After the couple divorced, Stein managed the Ramones and other bands before turning to real estate, where she turned her celebrity connections into clients and thrived in the competitive sales culture.

“She had a huge personality -- huge,” said Prudential broker Lori Barabari, who knew Stein for about six years.