Hal Ross, whose career in television as a talent and literary agent spanned nearly fifty years, died last Friday. He was 86. The native Angeleno co-founded the Ziegler-Ross Agency, where he helped pioneer the television packaging business and was one of the first agents to represent a major athlete when he negotiated Sandy Koufax’s blockbuster deal with NBC Sports in 1967. During that time, he packaged such hits as The Daniel Boone Show, Medical Center and M*A*S*H. He later joined the William Morris Agency as SVP where he plied his talents until his retirement in 1997. Even then Hal could not stay away from show business: he found time after his early morning swims in Malibu to produce the motion picture version of The Honeymooners in 2005.