Music, TV exec Berle Adams dies at 92

August 27, 2009 Berle Adams, a longtime music industry executive and manager, talent agent and international television sales agent, died Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles following a long illness. Adams helped build the career of Louis Jordan; booked road dates for Glenn Miller and Nat King Cole; founded Mercury Records; signed the Who, Neil Diamond and Bob Newhart; and was the driving force behind the TV hits “This Is Your Life” and “Queen for a Day.” During his two-decade stint with Lew Wasserman at MCA, Adams served as the agent for Jack Benny, Dinah Shore, Bud Yorkin , Norman Lear and Alfred Hitchcock. Under the Chicago-based Adams, Jordan, a singer and bandleader, moved from club dates in the Midwest and warehouses in the South to shows in breakthrough, integrated urban theaters including the Paramount in New York, the Oriental Theater in Chicago and the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco.

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