Dick Guttman, Publicist to Streisand, Eastwood and a Generation of Stars, Dies at 93
Dick Guttman, the Hollywood publicity executive whose clients included Barbra Streisand and Clint Eastwood, died on Sept. 19 in Los Altos, California. He was 93.
Variety reported his death on Sept. 23. Guttman spent more than six decades guiding the public image of stars, films and companies.
He worked in publicity at Rogers & Cowan, one of the industry's best-known public relations firms, and later at his own firms, Guttman and Pam and Guttman Associates. Colleagues knew him for his trademark fedora, noted by The Hollywood Reporter as part of his long presence around town.
His client list spanned generations. It included Paul Newman, Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood, Gene Hackman, Warren Beatty, Elizabeth Taylor and William Shatner. His work also included periods as publicist to Jacqueline Bissett and Martin Landau.
Guttman moved to Los Angeles from St. Louis, Missouri with his family after the Second World War. While at Fairfax High he covered school sports for the Los Angeles Examiner. While studying at UCLA he worked part-time for Rogers & Cowan.
Early work took him to Europe as a unit publicist, meaning the publicist assigned to handle press on a single film shoot. Credits there included "Paris Holiday" and "The Key." In Paris he met Gisela while working on Billy Wilder's "Love in the Afternoon." They married in 1956.
He partnered with Jerry Pam in 1971 to form Guttman & Pam. He formed his own agency, Guttman Associates, in the early 1990s. As an awards and release publicist he promoted films including "Unforgiven," "Bonnie and Clyde," "Kramer vs. Kramer," "The King's Speech," "The Artist," "Shakespeare in Love" and "The English Patient."
Beyond actors, he represented author Sidney Sheldon and astronaut Buzz Aldrin. He also represented companies including Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, and Sanrio for the introduction of Hello Kitty.
Guttman also wrote for the screen. He had credits on seven films, including 1963's "Back Door to Hell" with Jack Nicholson. In 2015 he published his autobiography, "Starflacker."
He lived for more than 50 years in Malibu before moving to Los Altos last year with Gisela. He is survived by Gisela, his wife of 70 years, daughters Danielle Guttman Klein and Monika Guttman Robertson, granddaughters Alyssa Brucculeri and Claire Robertson, great-granddaughter Aria Brucculeri, and sister Joan Ostrow.
