Phil Berg (talent agent)

Berg was born in New York City on February 15, 1902.[2] He was of Jewish descent.[3] He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.[2] In 1924, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a talent agent, becoming a millionaire by the age of 26.[4] In 1927, he partnered with Bert Allenberg to form the Berg-Allenberg talent agency.[2] Berg created the concept of the "package deal" where he would find a script, a writer, actors, and a director; and then sold the entire package to a producer.[5] He represented such stars as Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford,[5] Lucille Ball, Wallace Beery, Walter Brennan, Olivia DeHavilland, Melvyn Douglas, Walter Huston, Buster Keaton, Alan Ladd, Charles Laughton, and Edward G. Robinson; directors Frank Capra, Victor Fleming, Vincent Minnelli, Jean Renoir, and William Wellman; and writers Michael Arlen, James Hilton, Dalton Trumbo, and Rogers and Hart.[2] He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.[4] He retired in 1947[5] to pursue his passion in archaeology.[4] In December 1949, the Berg-Allenberg Agency was acquired by the William Morris Agency.

In 1927, he married vaudevillian performer and film actress Leila Hyams who predeceased him.[2] He remarried to Joan Hartley.[5] He left his collection of artifacts and art (valued at $1.5 million in 1969) to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.[2]