During the 1950s and early 1960s, showbiz agents were in many ways much more important than the artists’ managers. The general public were often under the impression that it was the managers who were solely responsible for the success of an artist, but more often than not it was their agents too. And agents dealt in all sorts.
During the 1950s, there were various agencies located in London’s West End who solely put together variety shows for the hundreds of theatres across the UK. My manager, Larry Parnes, was involved with the Foster’s Agency of Piccadilly Circus which had various specialist departments handling theatres, films and television. Head of the variety department was one Hymie Zahl. Hymie was approximately five-feet tall, and that’s being generous, and his eyesight was even worse than that of Mr Magoo. When he read anything, it would, on occasions, have to be as close as two inches from his face; likewise when he was meeting you! With me at 6ft 4in, I had to lean forward… otherwise Hymie would have been talking to my navel. I really enjoyed Hymie’s company, however, and I think he did mine.