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Herb Nanas, who started as an agent, became a manager and produced films including First Blood, Rocky III, Lost in America and 2 Days in the Valley, died November 3. He was 84. Anderson Group Public Relations confirmed the news but didn’t not provide a cause or place of death. During his five-decade career, Nanas is credited with discovering Sylvester Stallone and being an early backer of comedian Roseanne Barr. He had a long professional relationship with Albert Brooks, whom he represented from his comedy beginnings through a string of acclaimed films and TV shows. His client list over the years also included Michael Chiklis, Gary Busey, Andrew Dice Clay, Lorenzo Lamas, Ray Sharkey — who starred with Stallone in 1974’s The Lords of Flatbush — and Joe Penny. Born February 4, 1941, in the Bronx, Nanas went to grade school with siblings Penny and Garry Marshall and future fashion icon Ralph Lauren. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, landing a trainee gig William Morris Agency and working his way up from the mailroom. RELATED: Ted Kotcheff Dies: ‘First Blood,’ ‘North Dallas Forty’ & ‘Weekend At Bernie’s’ Director & ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Producer Was 94 By the early 1970s, Nanas launched his own management company, adding producing to his résumé. His credits include Rocky III, Paradise Alley and First Blood with Stallone and Brooks’ Lost in America, Defending Your Life, Mother, The Muse, and Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. He also produced the feature 2 Days in the Valley, which featured a just-starting Charlize Theron. On the small screen, he helped shepherd the multiple-Emmy-winning History Channel miniseries Hatfields & McCoys, starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton, as well as Texas Rising starring Paxton, Ray Liotta and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Nanas also spent some time working in the music business with the Scotti Brothers, representing Roger Miller, Eddie Rabbitt, KT Oslin, and Miami Sound Machine, which featured young Gloria Estefan. Before that he repped Denny Doherty from The Mamas & The Papas. Nanas is survived by his daughter, Madeline; sons Rick and Alan; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
