Martha Luttrell, a veteran talent agent whose clients ranged from Susan Sarandon and Martin Campbell to Julie Taymor, Sam Shepard and Waylon Jennings and also worked with Mike Nichols and Bill Robinson, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer in Calabasas, CA. She was 80.
Her friend Holly Goldberg Sloan confirmed the news to Deadline.
Born on October 31, 1944, in Vancouver, Luttrell knew at an early age that she wanted to be in show business and moved with her cousin to Los Angeles right out of high school. Among her first jobs was answering phones at Capitol Records.
Luttrell relocated to New York City in the early 1970s and became the assistant to comedian-turned-Oscar-winning The Graduate filmmaker Mike Nichols. After working with him on 1973’s The Day of the Dolphin, she moved back to Los Angeles and got a job assisting Robinson at The Robinson Agency, where she learn the craft of agenting.
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Robinson — who repped the likes of Carol Burnett, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Duvall and Peter Falk during his career –eventually made her a partner in his agency, and Robinson/Luttrell and Associates was sold to ICM in 1983. She would spend the next quarter-century there before retiring in 2008 and moving to Aspen, CO. The-ICM Chairman and CEO Jeff Berg said at the time: “We have tremendous respect for Martha and what she has accomplished for the agency and her clients. After working with her for so many years, she will be greatly missed.”
During her career, Luttrell also repped directors Paul Weiland, Mick Jackson, Tony Bill and Jon Amiel and helped guide the careers of Stephen Rea, Judy Davis, Don Was and Dereck and Beverly Joubert, among others.
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Luttrell was a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and served a term as Chair of the Academy’s Agent Group. She was appointed by Gil Cates to the advisory board for the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
Goldberg Sloan said Luttrell was known for her devotion to the people she represented, her great taste in material, her tenacity when making a deal — and her Halloween/birthday parties.
She is survived by her nephew, Peter Luttrell; his wife, Dr. Stephanie White; their two children, Heather and Wendy Luttrell; and goddaughter Francesca Bill.
A celebration of her life was being planned. Donations in Luttrell’s honor can be made to the Aspen Community Foundation.
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