Editor’s Note: This interview appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on May 9, 2010.
Where did I go to school? Not to Harvard, Princeton, Stanford. I went to the school of Sinatra. I sat in his class every night. And while I was sitting there learning, I was making millions of dollars. — Jerry Weintraub
Jerry Weintraub is many things. In his just-released memoir, “When I Stop Talking You’ll Know I’m Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man,” he is breezily forthcoming about his life as a legendary concert promoter, movie producer, Broadway show producer, actor, philanthropist, best pal to George Clooney and President George H.W. Bush, author, and most of all survivor. He is a self-made entertainment mogul for whom “closing a deal” is not just an art form but a religious experience.
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Sinatra. Presley. Dylan. Diamond. Clapton. Buffett. Zeppelin. They all benefitted from the Weintraub touch. Rest assured, it was a two-way street. But that’s business, Weintraub says during a recent phone conversation.
“Look, I didn’t lie to anybody and I didn’t hustle anybody,” Weintraub said matter-of-factly, when pressed about the iconic deals he’s made in his 40-plus years in the entertainment industry. “It was not ‘The Sting.’ The fact is, anytime I believed in something, I just did it. I made it happen. I never heard the word ‘no.’”
While not a full-out autobiography, the book is a series of fascinating anecdotes about Weintraub ‘s life’s journey, from a kid in the Bronx who preferred truancy to textbooks to eventually becoming one of key players in Hollywood, producing such films as “Nashville,” “Diner,” “Ocean’s Eleven” (and its two sequels) and “The Karate Kid” (both the original series of films and the upcoming remake), to name a few.
In an industry where most deals require lawyers and volumes of contracts, Weintraub made many life-changing deals with nothing more than a handshake and chutzpah. Elvis Presley would be one of his greatest coups. Weintraub called the King’s manager Colonel Tom Parker every day for nearly a year asking to set up an arena tour for Presley in the late ’60s.
“I did not flip him in the course of one of those calls,” he writes, “but I had planted my name so deep in his brain he would never forget it. Whenever he thought of taking Elvis on tour, he thought of Jerry Weintraub.”
In the end, the Colonel called Weintraub and a $1 million deal was struck, no lawyers necessary. It made Weintraub the hottest career-maker in the business — and the most loathed concert promoter in the country after the savvy twentysomething concluded it was more profitable for him (and the artist) to eliminate the local promoters and go directly to the sources: the arena and concert hall owners.
That led him to Chicago and Arthur Wirtz. Even though their first meeting began with Weintraub assailing the iconic Blackhawks and Chicago Stadium owner with a hearty “screw you” after the magnate had kept him waiting for hours outside his office, Wirtz became one of his closest friends and key business partners (the deal was brokered over a steak dinner cooked by Wirtz in his office kitchenette).
“We made millions of dollars together,” Weintraub writes. “He was my mentor in the world of arenas and concerts and filling seats. He made me a king.”
Sinatra came calling, too, asking Weintraub to put him back on the map (as he had done with Elvis earlier). It was the beginning of another lifelong friendship that again started with a handshake: “[Sinatra] pointed his finger at me,” writes Weintraub, “. . . and said, ‘ I ‘m never going to disappoint you. And you know what kid? You’re never going to disappoint me, are you?’ And we shook hands, had another drink and that was it.”
Today, at 72, Weintraub says he’s “in the clouds,” thanks to a book that has taken on a life of its own. He talked about his show-biz life and his new career as an author.
Q. Your book reveals your ability to get the deal done no matter what. Could you be as successful if you were starting out today?
A. I started with no friends, no money, no contacts. I built all that over the years. I did it all with my wits and perseverance. Toughness and perseverance. It’s a different business today. Or maybe I ‘m a different person. I would get it done. But I don’t like the business as much today.
Q. The book paints you as someone who never got intimidated by anyone, not a mob figure, not a Hollywood mogul, not a mega-star. Does anything intimidate you?
A. I never have gotten intimidated. You learn from your mistakes and you move on.
Q. Is there any singer or show that slipped through your fingers?
A. There’s nothing I missed or wish I would have done. I reinvented myself every 10 years, so this is now Weintraub ‘s author period.
Q. How have your pals, the “Ocean’s” boys, reacted to your book?
A. Clooney e-mailed me today asking for an autographed copy. I heard from [Brad] Pitt today. He just wanted to know how the book was doing. I had dinner with Matt Damon the other night in New York and he said this whole book thing was amazing.
Q. What are the pivotal moments in your career and your life?
A. The day I got Elvis Presley I knew my business life had changed forever. In my personal life, I ‘ve had two: meeting Jane [his wife of 45 years] and meeting Susie [Ekins, his film-producer girlfriend of 20 years], the two loves of my life. And they are the best of friends. They made all of that work.
Miriam Di Nunzio is editor of the Sun-Times’ Weekend section.
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