Talent Manager Joan Sittenfield Dies at 66
Hollywood talent manager, writer and produce Joan Sittenfield died on Sunday after a five year battle with cancer. She was 66.
Sittenfield started her career as an actor and a dancer. She later worked as a casting director in the 1980s, casting projects like “Taxi” and “The Jeffersons.” She then spent nine years as Senior Vice President of Talent and Casting for Universal Television, where she oversaw 20 series and 100 pilots.
Some of the series she worked on and help arrange regular cast members for include “Law & Order,” “Northern Exposure,” “Quantum Leap” and “Coach.” She also help give Sandra Bullock, Julianna Margulies, Catherine Keener, Patricia Clarkson, Eriq La Salle and Ving Rhames some of their early acting roles.
After Sittenfield left Universal Television, she created J&J Productions with her partner Jeni Munn where they put over 18 movies of the week projects into active development, including NBS’s “On the Edge of Innocence” and ABC’s “Gold Rush: A Real Alaskan Adventure” which starred Alyssa Milano.
In 1998, she added a management division to her company Joan Sittenfield Management. Among her roster were two-time Tony and Emmy winner Judd Hirsch, Tony nominees Charlotte D’Amboise and Stephen Bogardus, Bernardo de Paula of “Shameless” and James Hiroyuki Liao of “Unforgettable.”
Sittenfield also co-authored “How Many Men Does It Take to Screw in a Lightbulb?… None, The Modern Woman’s Guide to Home Repairs” in 1997 and “Ready? … Set? … Act!” in 2013.
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