Jenne Casarotto, who co-founded the London-based global talent agency Casarotto Ramsay & Associates and represented the likes of Tennessee Williams, Stephen Frears, David Hare, Terry Gilliam, Steve McQueen, Neil Jordan and John Madden during her long career, has died. She was 77.
Casarotto died Thursday in the U.K. of complications from a short illness, her firm announced.
With a career spanning more than 50 years, Casarotto was “an award-winning agent who was highly regarded throughout the world for her impeccable taste in writers and directors, unwavering dedication to her clients and for her calm and creative leadership,” Casarotto Ramsay & Associates said in a statement.
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She and her husband, Giorgio Romeo Casarotto, launched the company in 1989.
Her illustrious list of clients — several of whom worked alongside her since their feature film debuts — also included J.G. Ballard, John Crowley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matteo Garrone, Christopher Hampton, Nick Hornby, Bob Hoskins, Neil Gaiman, Hilary Bevan Jones, David Leland, Cynthia Payne, Neal Purvis, Martin Sherman, Shawn Slovo, Robert Wade and David Yates.
“Jenne has been my agent for 45 years. Her advice was always realistic, level-headed, clear and encouraging,” Frears said in a statement. “She’s been a wonderful supportive friend. This is a terrible shock.”
Said Madden: “Jenne was unique: a brilliant agent and an extraordinary human being — combining toughness with an immense warmth, navigating the choppy waters of our industry with canny skill and an unquestioning loyalty both to her clients and to the team of agents she nurtured and gathered around her. Her leadership, her understanding and her friendship were matchless.”
Casarotto was honored at the British Independent Film Awards and Women in Film & Television Awards and was a member of BAFTA, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the European Film Academy. She also served as a board member of Times Up UK.
Recently, she was named an honorary associate of the London Film School in a presentation made by British media executive Greg Dyke.
“I have worked side by side with Jenne for over 25 years, which has been an utter joy and pleasure,” Jodi Shields, the firm’s head of film & television, said. “She is a giant among agents. Her impeccable taste, her tough but fair approach and her love of the industry are values she has instilled in each of us at Casarotto.
“We will carry on her extraordinary legacy. Jenne worked hard, but she had lots and lots of fun along the way. She was irreverent and funny, an incredible woman who was full of life and wonderful to be around.”
In addition to her husband, survivors include their sons, Mark and Daniel, their three grandchildren and her brother, Martin.
“Jenne Casarotto was pivotal in my career and my life,” McQueen said. “She was my friend, and I loved her deeply. In the 16 years that I have known her, she was a tremendous support to me. In my last conversation with her, I confessed my love to her, and she to me. I will always have her in my heart with every footstep I take.”
