Eric Gardner, Manager Who Steered Careers of Todd Rundgren, Cassandra Peterson, Paul Shaffer and Other Stars, Dies at 74
variety.comChris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Eric Gardner, a producer and talent manager whose famous clients included Todd Rundgren, Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson, Paul Shaffer and many others, died July 19 at age 74.
Family members said he died in his sleep at home in Camarillo, Calif., from complications of pneumonia. Gardner was the chairman-CEO of Panacea Entertainment, which most recently had been representing Shaffer, the former “Late Night” band leader, and Gardner’s client of many decades, Rundgren, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (despite the artist’s own indifference to the honor) in 2021. “I lost a dear friend.
My long-time manager, Eric Gardner, passed away at his home outside of Los Angeles,” Shaffer posted on social media. “He has represented me since 1990, and was everything one might have hoped his manager would be — smart, beautifully spoken, could represent me in any area in which I wanted to dabble, his counsel always wise and true.” Gardner was inducted into the Personal Managers Hall of Fame in 2017. “Negotiating for me is a great joy, it’s a dance,” he said at a conference of personal managers in 2018. “My favorite negotiations are with people across the tables who are smart and funny.
I am of the school that if two rational parties want something to happen, there is always a way.”I lost a dear friend. My long-time manager, Eric Gardner, passed away at his home outside of LA.
Read more on variety.com