There’s an oft-repeated quote in Hollywood: “They come, they go, who called?”

The originator of that quote, Lew Wasserman, was the godfather of all talent agents. He ran the legendary MCA, bought Universal Pictures, was forced out of the agency business by the government for his monopolistic control of the talent and their work, was considered the link between Mafia money and Hollywood, and famously helped elect Ronald Reagan as President—among other famous (and infamous) points of notoriety.