Charles H. Joffe. You know the name cause you’ve seen it in the credits to every single Woody Allen movie your entire life passed away at 78 yesterday after a long battle with lung disease. Joffe managed the blossoming career Allen plus a number of of high-profile comedians that included Dick Cavett, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and David Letterman. When “Annie Hall,” won Best Picture in 1978, Allen, as per usual, skipped the event (he has only attended the Oscars twice; once after 9/11 in 2002 and once again in 2007) and it was up to Joffe to accept the award (Allen was in New York preoccupied with his jazz band).
Joffe and Jack Rollins’ Rollins Joffe productions (they co-produced almost every Allen film, with a total of 42 films), also booked Lenny Bruce’s first act in New York in the 1950s according to the New York Times.
Nicknamed “The Beast,” the fabulous dealmaker brokered Allen’s first movie deal, “What’s New Pussycat?” and began producing Allen’s films in 1969 with “Take the Money and Run,” the first movie Allen wrote and directed according to the L.A. Times. He passed away last Wednesday at at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles surrounded by family and friends.
