Jay Kanter, agent to Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe, dead at 97

Jay Kanter, agent to superstar Hollywood clients including Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly, has died at his home in Beverly Hills, California.

Kanter served in the US Navy during WWII before starting work at film and TV giant MCA. At 22 years old, he was sent to pick up Brando at the train station and they forged a friendship, with Brando becoming his longtime client.

"I met him at the train station and I drove him to his aunt's house," Kanter explained in a Watch Meet Make Youtube video in 2017.

"He said, 'Come in and meet my aunt and uncle.' And so I went in and they invited me to dinner. I told him I wanted him to come into our agency office because all the agents would like to meet him and he said, 'I don't need to do that. You're my agent.' And suddenly I was getting calls from all these heads of studios. And that was it."

Kanter went on to represent a who's who of Hollywood stars including Warren Beatty, Gene Kelly and Ronald Reagan.

As reported by Variety, Kanter's son, Adam Kanter, remembered his father as someone who conducted his entire career with "integrity and kindness".

Jay Kanter was 97.