Dig A Hole: Charles H. Joffe, Woody Allen’s loyal producer
July 15th, 2008 by Scott Marks
With Woody Allen off playing jazz, Jack Nicholson presents producers Charles H. Joffe (left) and Jack Rollins with their 1977 best pictures Oscar for Annie Hall.
Until today, I never knew what Charles H. Joffe looked like. His business partner Jack Rollins had a bit part in Broadway Danny Rose and frequent (hilarious) cutaways on Late Night with David Letterman, but until I stumbled across this photo on the LA Times website, Mr. Joffe’s face remained a mystery.
His name was anything but.
As with any good Hebrew student/retardate, repetition is the key to learning and I saw Mr. Joffe’s name appear on screen at least a hundred times. And that was just one movie!
That opening weekend screening of Woody Allen’s Take the Money and Run in the big Old Orchard Theatre was oxygen to my 14-year-old brain. It must have been a cheap rental for the film played on the bottom half of double-bills for years to come. No matter what theater, I was there and each one of my hundred-plus viewings came before home video.
Don’t ask how many times I saw Bananas.
More than Diane Keaton or Carlo Di Palma or Mia Farrow or even Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe’s name was synonymous with Woody Allen’s. Of the 44 films directed by Allen only four (two shorts, a made for TV feature and Tiger Lily) don’t include Charles H. Joffe’s name in the credits. He also produced two of Allen’s early non-directorial efforts, Play it Again, Sam and The Front.
I am saddened to report that Mr. Joffe died Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 78.
Born July 16, 1929, in Brooklyn, Joffe studied journalism at Syracuse University. He entered the world of talent management by booking bands, a gig that eventually led him to the MCA talent agency.
In 1953 he partnered with Rollins and the duo represented (and nurtured) up-and-coming comics out of a small New York City agency. According to Allen biographer Eric Lax, Rollins and Joffe were the first to bring Lenny Bruce to New York and helped develop the team of Mike Nichols and Elaine May.
Allen signed with their agency while he was still writing TV sketch comedy. Joffe and Rollins gently pushed Woody in the direction of the spotlight, urging the bespectacled nebbish to put together a stand-up act. Joffe negotiated Allen’s first movie role in 1965’s What’s New Pussycat? In 1969, Joffe produced Take the Money and Run, Woody’s official directorial debut, and remained faithful to his client for the past 39 years.
Joffe’s business acumen guided Allen to total artistic control over his movies. He and Rollins shared the Academy’s best picture honors as producers of Allen’s 1977 Annie Hall.
According to Lax, client Robin Williams called Joffe “the Beast,” a nickname that paid tribute to Joffe’s “ability to stand up to studio and network moneymen and make almost unbelievably lucrative deals for his clients.”
In addition to Woody and Williams, “the deans of comedy management” represented Billy Crystal and Allen crony Dick Cavett. The pair also ran Jack Rollins and Charles Joffe Productions from 1969-1993, producing telepics for Showtime and PBS. They eventually went their separate ways, each deciding to focus on a single client: Rollins shifted his attention to the Letterman show, while Joffe continued to produce Allen’s movies.
He is survived by his wife, Carol; son, Cory; daughter, Suzanne; stepdaughter, director Nicole Holofcener; a stepmother; and three grandchildren.
While I might not have been able to pick him out in a crowd, had someone alerted me of his presence I would surely have fallen to my knees and thanked him for all the laughter his nurturing ways brought me.
So long, Charlie!
Tags: Academy Award, ANNIE HALL, Charles H. Joffe, Charles Joffe, Charlie Joffe, Comedy, David Letterman, Jack Rollins, Jack Rollins and Charles H. Joffe, Jack Rollins and Charles Joffe Productions, Manager, Obituary, Oscar, TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN, Talent Agent, Woody AllenShare: 
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5 Responses to “Dig A Hole: Charles H. Joffe, Woody Allen’s loyal producer”
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А вы как думаете так вот? Я считаю, что можно сделать, чтобы раскрыть этот обзор.
I hadn’t thought of it like that but I think he has a point.
Freetranslation.com states that his comment is:
“And you as think and so? I consider, that it is possible to make to open this review.”
מעולם לא שמעתי על דבר כזה בחיים שלי.
Объясните почему таким только образом? Размышляю, каким образом расширить этот обзор.