Sue Mengers was the first superagent, a William Morris secretary from the Bronx whose moxie, canniness, and astringent wit took her to the top of the Hollywood power structure, making her nearly as famous as her clients, a list that included Ali MacGraw, Gene Hackman, Peter Bogdanovich, Burt Reynolds, and close friend Barbra Streisand. Recalling how a hilariously bawdy, no-bullshit blonde crashed the industry men's club, PETER BISKIND gets Mengers's frank, still-acerbic account of her glory days, why her magic—and her stars—deserted her in the 1980s, and the price of becoming a legend in her own time
At the turn of the last century, a time when horse-drawn carriages turned into automobiles and bicycles into motorcycles, most of the companies active back then wanted a piece of the new action, and turned their businesses around to include the production of the new mechanical wonders.