Richard Shepherd, best known for producing 1961 Audrey Hepburn starrer 'Breakfast At Tiffany's', has passed away at the age of 86.
After a long-term illness, Shepherd died on January 14 at his LA home, according his wife Patricia, said the Hollywood Reporter.
Shepherd headed the production at MGM and Warner Bros before founding the Artists Agency during his 60-plus-year career.
Born June 4, 1927, in Kansas City, Shepherd attended Stanford in the 1940s and excelled on the golf team.
He was hired by American company Music Corporation of America (MCA) legend Lew Wasserman right out of college and became an agent for the company.
Shepherd started out as an independent film producer working with longtime partner Martin Jurow, on most of his projects, including 'Love in a Goldfish Bowl' and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'.
His production credits also include 'The Hanging Tree', 'The Fugitive Kind' and later 'Robin & Marian', a 1976 Robin Hood tale that re-teamed Shepherd with Hepburn, who had scored an Oscar nomination for 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.
He later founded his own agency, The Artists Agency and represented a myriad of stars over the years, including Marilyn Monroe, Rex Harrison and Richard Harris.
As head of production at Warner Bros in 1975, he developed films like 'The Champ', 1979's 'Clash of the Titans' and 'Shoot the Moon'.
He is survived by his wife and son, Scott Shepherd, a TV writer and producer.
