| Subject: Pierre Cossette, Father of the Grammys |
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Date Posted: 09/11/09 10:46:52am
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Grammys+booster+Pierre+Cossette...
Grammys booster Pierre Cossette dies
By Bill Brownstein, The Gazette September 11, 2009 12:21
MONTREAL - Pierre Cossette, better known as the Father of the Grammys,
passed away peacefully Friday morning at the Barrie Memorial Hospital in
Ormstown, not far from his summer residence in St. Anicet. Cossette, 85, a
Valleyfield native who was uprooted to Los Angeles with his family when he
was a child, had been suffering from congestive heart failure over the last
few years.
Cossette was the most unassuming of people in one of the most ego-driven
places on the planet, L.A. Forever sporting a cap, non-designer sweatpants
and sneakers, and flashing an ear-to-ear beam, he looked like an oversized
teddy bear. Appearances can be awfully deceiving. It was in 1969 when
Cossette first approached the National Academy of Recording Arts and
Sciences to purchase the rights to televise the Grammy Awards. After much
wrangling, Cossette got his wish two years later and produced the Grammys
for the first time on the tube and continued to be involved with the
production until his passing.
In addition to producing the Grammys, Cossette was also the creative force
behind the Latin Grammy Awards and the BET (Black Entertainment) Awards
shows on TV.
After graduating from the University of Southern California in 1949,
Cossette landed a job with MCA to book talent for the college circuit and
later for the casinos in Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe. And with an MCA
talent roster consisting of Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Bing
Crosby, Judy Garland, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Cossette had little
difficulty convincing the casino owners. He later diversified into TV
production. And in the early 1960s, he got into the recording business. He
mortgaged himself to the hilt to co-start a record label. In retrospect, a
good investment. Dunhill Records hit paydirt with such artists as Johnny
Rivers, the Mamas and Papas, Barry McGuire, Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night.
Incidentally, it was near his St. Anicet retreat a few decades back where
Cossette first spotted a young, unknown recording artist who blew him away.
"She was represented by CAA at the time, but they had no idea what kind of
talent Céline Dion was. I wrote (then super-agent) Mike Ovitz and told him
she would be the next Barbra Streisand," Cossette said in an interview a few
year ago..
He wasn't far wrong. Cossette since went on to produce Céline Dion specials
on CBS, Cossette later turned his attention to theatre and won Tony Awards
for his production of the Will Rogers Follies and Tony nominations for The
Scarlet Pimpernel and The Civil War, all of which played Broadway.
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