Elliot Wax

Elliot R. Wax was a television agent at William Morris and the head of his own company and is known for packaging hit variety and comedy shows including The Carol Burnett Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

While working in William Morris’s television variety show department, Wax helped package and sell variety specials with actors and singers including Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Jackson 5, Andy Williams, the Osmonds, Dionne Warwick and Danny Thomas. In addition, he represented writers and producers and packaged shows including Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, The Sonny and Cher Show, The Redd Foxx Show and The Glen Campbell Show.

When Wax became a VP, he transitioned into packaging half-hour television shows including The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Chico and the Man and Welcome Back, Kotter. He also represented James Komack and the writing team of Don Nicholl, Michael Ross and Bernie West, who developed All in the Family and created The Jeffersons.

After 20 years of working at William Morris, Wax left the agency in 1976 and opened Elliot Wax & Associates. While at his own company, Wax packaged and sold Three’s Company and Too Close For Comfort to ABC. In addition to working with his client Monty Hall on syndication rights for Let’s Make a Deal, he represented executive producer-writers who wrote for and ran network shows throughout the next three decades.

An NYU graduate and former Eagle Scout, Wax trained to be a medic in the Army. After the Army, he gave tours at NBC and worked in the William Morris mailroom. After becoming an agent in William Morris’s nightclub booking department, Wax was transferred to the Beverly Hills office and began work in the TV variety department.

Wax died on May 4, 2014, at his home in Lake Sherwood, California. He was 84.