NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Robert Lawrence Lasky, a noted entertainment attorney who represented clients such as Liberace, and Johnny Cash and who co-founded Agency of the Performing Arts, has died. he was 91.
According to a statement from his family, Lasky died in a New York hospital after suffering complications of sepsis.
A native of New York, Lasky graduated from Harvard University in 1951 and then studied law at Yale, graduating with his LL.B. in 1955.
He began his legal career at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind & Garrison but after several years, launched his own Madison Avenue practice where he went on to represent high profile entertainment clients such as Tony Bennett, Bridgette Bardot , and Harry Belafonte.
In 1962, Lasky partnered with David Baumgarten, Roger Vorce and Harvey Litwin to launch APA. Originally based in New York City, the agency expanded with offices in s Angeles, Nashville, Atlanta, Toronto and London.
As well, Lasky played a key role in the launch of advertising agency Lois Holland Callaway and its employment agency, Mantle Men & Nameth Girls, in 1968.
Lasky continued practicing law into his late eighties, including facilitating the acquisition of the music archives of the late guitar legend Les Paul by the Library of Congress in 2012.
He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Astrid, and their two children, Alexander, and Clarissa. A memorial will be held in the Spring 2021, pending COVID-19.
