Lawrence r Barnett

Executive, philanthropist and, foremost, beloved family patriarch, Lawrence Barnett passed away on June 11, 2012. Surrounded by family, Barnett died much as he had lived, with dignity and grace and with the adoration of all those he touched in his 98 years.

Born and raised in the modest community of Orrville, Ohio, Barnett began his business career at the age of 11 working in his father’s clothing store. “This gave me business experience at a very young age,” Barnett said. “It seems like I’ve worked most of my life.”

Working his way through school leading and booking the “Larry Barnett Orchestra,” he developed the skills that would serve him well in his career as an executive of some of the most prestigious entertainment companies in the world. From 1936 to 2000, Barnett was an executive and served on the boards of such organizations as Music Corporation of America (MCA) (1936 – 1963), General Artist Corporation (1963 – 1966), Piper Aircraft Corporation (1969 – 1977), Warner Communications Inc. (1984 – 1988), United Television, Inc. (1981 – 2000) and Chris-Craft Industries, Inc. (1967 – 2000).

As a young man attending The Ohio State University, Barnett was taken seriously ill during his last term. While in the hospital, he received a call from Columbia Broadcasting Artist Bureau offering him a job as a booking agent paying the lucrative salary, for 1936, of $75 a week plus expenses. Shortly thereafter, Barnett had a meeting with Jules Stein, the founder of MCA. Stein hired Barnett and sent him to MCA's West Coast offices. Barnett continued to serve as an agent in the music business, handling the careers of many of the Big Bands of the day including Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Guy Lombardo and Harry James, as well as singers Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Lena Horne and Dinah Shore. MCA also expanded into representing motion picture stars and quickly grew to be the world's largest talent agency. Barnett represented Jack Benny, George Burns, Judy Garland, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Marlon Brando and Ronald Reagan. At one time, Barnett acknowledged counseling Brando to remain focused on his acting career, rather than go on the road and play drums in a band. After Reagan's divorce from actress Jane Wyman, Barnett and Reagan went on a horse back riding trip for a few days in Death Valley to help Reagan get through the divorce.

In 1948, Barnett was one of the original eight employees to be sold stock in MCA by Jules Stein. MCA became a public company in the 1950s and continued to be very successful, including its pivotal acquisition of Universal Pictures in 1962. By this time, Barnett was president of MCA's talent agency business, which represented most of the industry's biggest names. The Department of Justice brought an antitrust action against MCA for owning both the talent agency and movie studio, and MCA was forced to dissolve the talent agency in order to conclude its acquisition of Universal.

Shortly after being named president of MCA, Barnett was in England and heard about a young American actress named Isabel Bigley, who was a big hit in the London production of “Oklahoma,” and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine. Barnett made a point of meeting her and convinced her to sign with MCA, and two years later he asked her to marry him. During her career, Bigley too was widely respected for her work in television and the theatre. She won theatre’s highest honor, a “Tony Award,” for her role as Sarah Brown in the original Broadway production of “Guys and Dolls.”

Barnett went on to have an extremely successful career in media and entertainment, culminating with his leadership at Chris-Craft Industries, Inc., where he was executive vice-president and director, and United Television, where he was vice chairman. Barnett had taken his original job at Columbia Broadcasting thinking he would finish college by going to night school, but never did. After retiring 52 years later, he returned to The Ohio State University and received his degree in 1988.

With great success in the business world, Lawrence Barnett’s credo in life was to help people so that one day he could look back and say that he lived his life unselfishly and gave something back to society for all the good fortune that was bestowed upon him. Over the years, he shared his passion, dedication, generosity of spirit, leadership and philanthropy with many worthy causes, such as The ALS Association, Hillside Hospital, the Adoption Society of Westchester, the Annenberg Center for Health Services and the Eisenhower Medical Center.

In 1993, Lawrence and Isabel Barnett established The Ohio State University Arts Administration Program, endowing numerous graduate fellowships, and later, the Public Policy and the Arts Symposium, which now attracts worldwide attention to its presentations. The program also brings notable members of the entertainment industry to Ohio State to speak about their experiences. The first two speakers were Robert Redford and Sydney Poitier, both former clients of Barnett. In 1996, Lawrence Barnett was awarded an honorary doctorate of fine arts and received the 2004 Gerlach Outstanding Development Volunteer Award. In 2011, the Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Charitable Foundation donated the funds to establish the multi-disciplinary Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise at Ohio State and to support extensive building renovations for the College of Arts and Sciences.

“I simply cannot underscore enough what the longstanding support of Larry Barnett has meant for The Ohio State University,” said E. Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State. “His impassioned generosity bolsters the work of our arts students through the Barnett Fellowships and the Barnett Symposium speaker series. Through his remarkable vision and generosity, he established a center that most appropriately bears his name. Larry Barnett’s legacy at Ohio State is palpable and enduring, and the University community will forever be in his debt.”

Barnett considered one of his greatest philanthropic accomplishments to be his work with The ALS Association to help find a cure and treatments for Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a devastating neuromuscular disease that robs its victims of the ability to walk, speak and, eventually, to breathe.

Barnett served as the founding chair of The ALS Association; gave generously of his time, intellect and support; and became affectionately known as the “Grandfather” of the organization, a distinction of which he was especially proud. He and his wife helped fund research that eventually isolated the first gene associated with ALS and sponsored the inaugural Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award for ALS research.

“His passing will leave a void in the lives of everyone who knew him and who believe the most important thing in life is to help people in time of need,” said ALS Association President and CEO Jane H. Gilbert. “He lived a full and productive life, and we are grateful that he devoted a major portion of it to the ALS community. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his entire family.”

Barnett once shared, “I have always felt like I needed to help humanity as much as I can. And we are fortunate enough to be able to give back to the community and make a difference. Even as a child, I wanted to help others.”

“Every organization has a George Washington, and Larry Barnett was the George Washington of The ALS Association,” said ALS Association National Board of Trustees Chair Jay Daugherty. "Thousands upon thousands of persons with ALS have benefited from Larry's wisdom, guidance and generosity. The world will miss Larry Barnett and most especially those of us who are continuing the fight against ALS.”

Lawrence and Isabel Barnett shared 53 years of marriage, until her death in 2006, and leave a large and loving family of six children: Robert, William, Claudia, Lawrence Jr., James, and Laurey; 16 grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

The family has indicated that anyone wishing to honor Lawrence Barnett’s memory may make a contribution to The ALS Association.