Berle Adams

Berle Adams was interviewed for three hours in Beverly Hills, CA. He talked about his early career in the music industry as a band booker, working with artists such as Louis Jordan, and then as a founding executive at Mercury Records. He described in detail his work as a Hollywood talent agent at MCA, first as a band booker and then later in the television department. He talked about working with MCA heads Jules Stein and Lew Wasserman, and described MCA’s rise to dominance in the entertainment industry. He spoke of MCA’s famous “uniform” for executives, and it’s methods for signing top-level clients. Adams explained the process of packaging clients with television shows and his technique in structuring a deal. He recalled many of the programs he represented, including The Jack Benny Program, This Is Your Life, The Ford Show, and The Colgate Comedy Hour . He spoke about his career after his acrimonious departure from MCA, creating a sports department at the William Morris Agency, and later distributing the Emmy Awards show internationally.  The interview was conducted by Henry Colman on November 13, 2003.