Sue Mengers

Mengers was born to a Jewish family in Hamburg, Germany, the daughter of George and Ruth Mengers (née Levy). Several years of birth have been published, and while she was living, reporters stated "she won't say just when" she was born. In 1938, she arrived at age five in New York with her parents on the ship S.S. Koenigstein from Antwerp. Neither of her parents spoke English at the time. After her father's suicide in a Times Square hotel, she relocated to the Bronx with her mother, who took a job as a bookkeeper. ==Career==

At 17, Mengers answered an MCA ad for "receptionist, theatrical agency" and entered the talent agency business in 1955 as a receptionist. and returned to the William Morris Agency for a brief period from 1988-90. Shortly after the Manson family Tate–LaBianca murders, Mengers reportedly reassured Streisand: "Don't worry, honey, stars aren't being murdered. Only featured players." ==Personal life==

On May 5, 1973, Mengers married Belgian writer-director Jean-Claude Tramont at a chapel in Big Sur. Barbra Streisand was her maid of honor, and Comte Bruno d'Oncieu was Tramont's best man. In 1988, after retiring from the talent agency business, for nearly 20 years, Mengers held A-List Hollywood evening salons of 8-12 people that included Jennifer Aniston, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Mel Brooks, Graydon Carter, Neil Diamond, Angie Dickinson, Barry Diller, Michael Douglas, Maureen Dowd, Robert Downey Jr., Nora Ephron, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, William Friedkin, David Geffen, Tom Hooper, Anjelica Huston, Elton John, Diane Keaton, Sherry Lansing, Fran Lebowitz, Bryan Lourd, Kelly Lynch, Ali MacGraw, Bill Maher, Princess Margaret, Lorne Michaels, Bette Midler, Jack Nicholson, Ryan Phillippe, Sidney Poitier, Frank Rich, Tim Robbins, Julia Roberts, David Semel, Joanna Shimkus, Martin Short, Alessandra Stanley, Sting, Barbra Streisand, Trudie Styler, Gore Vidal, Billy Wilder and Richard D. Zanuck. Some of the aforementioned people attended smaller lunch gatherings that were for women only. Mengers's parties in her agenting days included Lauren Hutton, Mike Nichols and Paul Schrader. ==Death==

Mengers died on Saturday, October 15, 2011, from pneumonia, "after a number of small strokes, and a lifetime of illnesses" at her home in Beverly Hills, California, "surrounded by three of her close friends, Ali MacGraw, Joanna Poitier, and Boaty Boatwright", at age 79. Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter posted a written tribute the following morning. ==Legacy==

• In the film The Last of Sheila (1973), the character played by actress Dyan Cannon is reportedly based on Mengers. • Elizabeth Taylor reportedly based her own character in the television movie These Old Broads (2001) on Mengers. • In Barbara Walters's memoir Audition (2008), she describes Mengers as "a legend in the business. Smart, tough, and funny, she is also brutally honest." • Mengers inspired the one-woman play ''I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers'', written by John Logan, which opened on Broadway on April 24, 2013, starring Bette Midler. • The character of Susie Myerson in the Amazon Prime Video original series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017) was inspired by Mengers. • Jennifer Lawrence was attached to produce and star as Mengers in a biopic directed by Paolo Sorrentino for Apple Studios in 2021. • Mengers was portrayed in the 2022 series The Offer, about the making of The Godfather. ==References==