Robert Stigwood Has Died
Rock music manager, theatrical impresario and film producer Robert Stigwood has died at the age of 81. Quite the fellow in his time. In the ’60s and early ’70s he was best known for managing Cream, the Bee Gees, Eric Clapton and Stevie Winwood, but fairly or unfairly his name eventually become closely associated (if not synonymous) with his atrocious movie musical “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” which all but ruined his Hollywood reputation and that of the Bee Gees along with it. (The 1978 film inspired a famous Herald Examiner front-page headline: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Bomb.â€) Stigwood’s theatrical productions of “Hair,” “Evita!,” “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Sweeney Todd” were huge. His film successes include “Saturday Night Fever,” “Grease,” “Jesus Christ Superstar” (as co-producer) and “Tommy.” He produced three legendary stinkers aside from “Sgt. Pepper” — “Moment to Moment” with John Travolta and Lily Tomlin, Sylvester Stallone‘s “Stayin’ Alive” and “Times Square.”
