Attorney Michael Eisner Dies: Biz Affairs Exec Who Worked At ICM, WMA & Carolco Was 55

Michael Eisner, a longtime industry attorney and business affairs executive, has died of pancreatic cancer, Deadline confirmed. Eisner was a business affairs attorney at Carolco, and then moved to the business affairs departments of ICM and then WMA. Eisner stayed at WME after the merger and then became senior vice president and head of business & legal affairs for Hasbro Studios. He was 55.

From there, he moved to Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz when that New York-based law firm formed an office in Los Angeles. On the corporate side, he performed extensive work for Hasbro as lead negotiator on all entertainment-related transactions, including complex rights deals and international co-productions. On the talent side, he has advised individuals ranging from first-time writers and emerging Sundance Film Festival award winners to well-established, billion-dollar-grossing filmmakers.

He was buried today at Groman Eden Mortuary in Los Angeles. Friends remembered him as a solid guy and strong executive who battled cancer and beat it in the past.