Shep Gordon is the visionary Hollywood manager, agent and producer responsible for building some of the biggest careers in entertainment, and has been named one of the “100 most influential people” by Rolling Stone magazine. The subject of the acclaimed Mike Myers-produced documentary Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon, Shep came to Los Angeles in 1968 and landed in the heart of rock and roll, instantly (and by sheer coincidence) falling in with Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and, a short time later, Alice Cooper, whom he continues to manage today.In Shep’s fascinating book, They Call me Supermensch: A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock ‘n’ Roll, he shares tales of working and befriending everyone from Groucho Marx, Blondie, Salvador Dali, Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass and Michael Douglas to the Dalai Lama, Emeril Lagasse, Raquel Welch and Wolfgang Puck. The book was published in 2016 and debuted on the New York Times bestseller list.
In This Episode:
04:15 Why Shep’s friends call him Forrest Gump
06:45 How Norman Lear’s book influenced Shep’s own autobiography
08:15 What Shep learned through writing the book
12:12 Shep on his unique relationship with Alice Cooper
14:42 How Shep single handedly created the concept of a celebrity chef
21:40 Other moments Shep was a part of making history
23:25 The two industries where Shep foresees huge disruption
