Ken Fritz, was a personal manager of Tom and Dick Smothers for the better part of 60 years. In 1964 and recently out of college, Fritz started out as a sort of advance man for their tours before becoming their full-time road manager. Later, he co-managed them with Ken Kragen and eventually assumed solo management for all aspects of their careers. He was also an executive producer on many of their projects, including the groundbreaking The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. His other clients have included Neil Diamond, Peter, Paul and Mary and George Benson. Here, Fritz reflects on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour as well as Tom Smothers as a comedian, businessman and friend.
In 1966 William Morris pitched CBS a new variety show starring The Smothers Brothers and CBS wanted it. We were very firm with the network that they were not going to buy the live versions of the nightclub shows,...
In 1966 William Morris pitched CBS a new variety show starring The Smothers Brothers and CBS wanted it. We were very firm with the network that they were not going to buy the live versions of the nightclub shows,...
- 12/29/2023
- by Ken Fritz
- Deadline Film + TV
Ken Kragen, a prolific manager and producer in entertainment and a central organizer behind the 1985 charity single “We Are the World,” died from natural causes in his Brentwood, Calif. home on Tuesday. He was 85 years old.
Kragen’s death was confirmed to Variety by his spokesperson and friend Cheryl J. Kagan.
“While I am of course immensely proud of everything he has accomplished professionally, he has also been the best dad to me that I could have ever asked for,” Ken Kragen’s daughter, Emma Kragen, said in a statement.
Kragen was born in Alameda, Calif. on Nov. 24, 1936. Kragen graduated from Harvard Business School before embarking on a career across film, television and music.
One of Kragen’s first key ventures was the Kragen-Fritz management company that he created with his business partner Ken Fritz in the ’60s. For over five years they worked together as co-executives of the “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,...
Kragen’s death was confirmed to Variety by his spokesperson and friend Cheryl J. Kagan.
“While I am of course immensely proud of everything he has accomplished professionally, he has also been the best dad to me that I could have ever asked for,” Ken Kragen’s daughter, Emma Kragen, said in a statement.
Kragen was born in Alameda, Calif. on Nov. 24, 1936. Kragen graduated from Harvard Business School before embarking on a career across film, television and music.
One of Kragen’s first key ventures was the Kragen-Fritz management company that he created with his business partner Ken Fritz in the ’60s. For over five years they worked together as co-executives of the “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,...
- 12/15/2021
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
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