Agent, producer, studio chief Wigan dies at 78

Los Angeles: Gareth Wigan, a London-born talent agent, film producer and studio executive credited with steering the success of such films as "Star Wars," died on Saturday in his home at Los Angeles at the age of 78 after a brief illness.Tributes from Hollywood heavyweights from Barbra Streisand to George Lucas and Martin Scorsese poured in for the Oxford graduate, who began his career as an agent in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s and then moved to California in the 1970s where he served in various high-profile Hollywood studio executive positions until his death, Sony Pictures said.

Wigan is widely regarded as a pioneer in the growth of global cinema by championing acclaimed filmmakers such as Ang Lee, Stephen Chow, Zhang Yimou, Guy Ritchie, Matthew Vaughn, and Feng Xiao Gong. Early in his career as an agent in the United Kingdom, Wigan represented directors John Schlesinger and Richard Lester, among many others. In the mid-1960s, he formed the own agency Gregson & Wigan Ltd with partner Richard Gregson, which became the first UK agency to open offices in Los Angeles and New York. The agency was sold to EMI in 1970 and by the mid-1970s Wigan had moved to California to work at Twentieth Century Fox, now owned by News Corp, to serve as a production executive on "Star Wars" and other critically acclaimed films like "All That Jazz," "The Turning Point" and "Alien." "I`ll never forget the first time he saw `Star Wars`... Gareth was so moved that he cried," Lucas, director of "Star Wars," said in a statement. "As a young filmmaker facing a lot of skeptics, his genuine love of the film meant the world to me. He was there for me when I needed him and I`ll always be grateful." In 1979, Wigan formed The Ladd Co, a unit of Warner Communications, with fellow Fox executives Alan Ladd Jr. and Jay Kanter, and the trio developed and produced hit films such as Best Picture Oscar-winner "Chariots of Fire" and Oscar-nominated "The Right Stuff." Wigan joined Sony`s Columbia Pictures as a consultant in 1987 and in January 1997 was named as co-vice chairman of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group. In 2008, Wigan stepped back from day-to-day operations but remained on as strategic advisor. Wigan is survived by his wife, Pat Newcomb, four children and seven grandchildren. Bureau Report