Phil Berg (talent agent)

Berg was born in New York City on February 15, 1902.^[2] He was of Jewish descent.^[3] He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.^[2] In 1924, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a talent agent, becoming a millionaire by the age of 26.^[4] In 1927, he partnered with Bert Allenberg to form the Berg-Allenberg talent agency.^[2] Berg created the concept of the "package deal" where he would find a script, a writer, actors, and a director; and then sold the entire package to a producer.^[5] He represented such stars as Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford,^[5] Lucille Ball, Wallace Beery, Walter Brennan, Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine,^[6][7] Melvyn Douglas, Walter Huston, Buster Keaton, Alan Ladd, Charles Laughton, and Edward G. Robinson; directors Frank Capra, Victor Fleming, Vincente Minnelli, Jean Renoir, and William Wellman; and writers Michael Arlen, James Hilton, Dalton Trumbo, and Rodgers and Hart.^[2] He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.^[4] He retired in 1947^[5] to pursue his passion in archaeology.^[4] In December 1949, the Berg-Allenberg Agency was acquired by the William Morris Agency.

In 1927, he married actress Leila Hyams who predeceased him.^[2] He remarried to Joan Hartley.^[5] At age 80 in 1983, he died from heart failure, leaving his artifacts and fine art collection (valued at $1.5 million in 1969) to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.^[2]