Harry Colomby, the onetime manager and business partner of Michael Keaton who wrote and produced a sitcom and several movies for the actor, including Johnny Dangerously and Touch and Go, has died. He was 92.
Colomby died on Christmas Day at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his brother, Bobby, a drummer for Blood Sweat and Tears, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had suffered a stroke about five years ago and had been hospitalized after fracturing his pelvis in a fall.
On Instagram, Keaton wrote: “Unlikeliest of matches, we thought the same, felt the same and laughed at the same things. He was kindhearted, curious, thoughtful and man, was he funny. Forget ‘was.’ To me he still is. I loved him and so did all who met him.”
Colomby taught English and history at Bay Ridge, Far Rockaway and Plainview high schools in the New York area before he quit to manage Thelonious Monk, then an obscure jazz pianist.
He first connected with Keaton in the 1970s when the Pennsylvania native was starting out as a stand-up comedian. “He saw something in Keaton that was astounding,” his brother said. “He saw his career long-term and knew he had more than just a few jokes in him.”
Colomby co-created, produced and wrote for the CBS sitcom Working Stiffs, which starred Keaton and James Belushi as roommates and brothers. (Keaton had just come off work on The Mary Tyler Moore Hour.) With Penny Marshall directing the pilot, the show debuted in September 1979 but aired just nine episodes before being canceled.
Colomby then produced Report to Murphy, which starred Keaton as a parole officer. Another CBS sitcom, it lasted only six episodes in 1982.
However, Colomby and Keaton found more success with Mr. Mom (1983), with Keaton playing a stay-at-home dad; Johnny Dangerously (1984), starring Keaton as a man who turns to crime to support his family; and the romantic comedy-drama Touch and Go (1986), with Keaton’s character falling for the mother (María Conchita Alonso) of a gang member. Colomby co-wrote the last two films and produced all three.
Colomby went on to also produce the Keaton starrers The Squeeze (1987), One Good Cop (1991) and Speechless (1994).
Born in Berlin, Colomby spent his first nine years under Nazi oppression. In April 1939, he, his parents and older brother, Jules, arrived in New York aboard the Queen Mary, and he earned his teaching degree from Columbia University.
Wanting to share his love of jazz with his high school students, Colomby booked a concert featuring drummer Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. The night before the show, he ran into Monk, then gave the pianist a ride home. Out of nowhere, Monk asked Colomby to manage his career.
During his 14 years with the musician, Colomby helped Monk thrive and got him on the cover of Time magazine.
In Los Angeles, Colomby began working with and managing John Byner, and he wrote and produced the 1977 ABC telefilm McNamara’s Band, starring the stand-up comic.
In addition to his brother, survivors include his wife, Lee, and son, Scott.
Source: HollyWood
