Enjoyment marketplace legend Clarence Avant, a supervisor, producer and mentor who grew to become recognized as the ‘Black Godfather’ in the worlds of audio, politics, and sports activities, died Sunday at his Los Angeles property, his family members states.
He was 92.
“It is with a large coronary heart that the Avant/Sarandos family announce the passing of Clarence Alexander Avant,” the spouse and children mentioned in a statement issued by his young children, Nicole and Alex, and son-in-regulation Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO. “By means of his revolutionary business leadership, Clarence grew to become affectionately identified as ‘The Black Godfather’ in the worlds of music, leisure, politics, and sports activities. Clarence leaves at the rear of a loving relatives and a sea of friends and associates that have improved the earth and will go on to adjust the globe for generations to occur. The joy of his legacy eases the sorrow of our decline. Clarence passed away carefully at dwelling in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 13, 2023.”
Born in North Carolina, Avant rose to prominence in the entertainment marketplace following starting out as a talent manager in the 1950s. His clientele integrated singers Sarah Vaughan and Small Willie John and composer Lalo Schifrin, who wrote the topic to “Mission: Impossible.”
He married wife Jacqueline in 1967 and moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, working at Enterprise Documents in Southern California and launched L.A.-centered Sussex Documents and Avant Garde Broadcasting.
He would go on to function with some of the largest names in the entire world of songs, furnishing management solutions, assistance and inspiration to the likes of Jay-Z, Diddy, L.A. Reid and Babyface. He launched two document labels, and assisted guideline the careers of Bill Withers, Sixto Rodriguez, and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
Avant grew to become the chairman of the board of Motown Information in the 1990s and was the very first African-American board member of PolyGram. He launched the to start with absolutely Black-owned radio stations in Los Angeles and was a guide to MGM and ABC in the 1970s.
“Everyone in this organization has been by Clarence’s desk, if they’re smart,” Quincy Jones as soon as mentioned of Avant.
Avant’s achievements were both of those community and behind the scenes, as a identify in the credits, or a title driving the names. Born in a segregated healthcare facility in North Carolina, he turned a guy of long lasting and vast-ranging impact, in section by minding two parts of tips from an early mentor, the tunes manager Joe Glaser: In no way permit on how much you know, and request for as much funds as achievable, “without stuttering.”
He is credited with persuading Jim Brown to launch an acting career soon after a thriving NFL job. Avant also produced a Tv exclusive for boxing fantastic Muhammad Ali.
When baseball excellent Henry Aaron was on the verge of surpassing Babe Ruth as the game’s house run winner, in 1974, Avant designed positive that Aaron been given the sort of lucrative industrial discounts typically elusive for Black athletes, starting up with a individual demand to the president of Coca-Cola.
Aaron would afterwards notify The Undefeated that everything he had turn out to be was “because of Clarence Avant.”
As he rose in the enjoyment market, Avant turned far more active politically. He was an early supporter of Tom Bradley, the initial Black mayor of Los Angeles, and served as govt producer of “Save the Young children,” a 1973 documentary about a live performance fundraiser for the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s “Operation Thrust.”
In 2021, Jacqueline Avant was shot and killed throughout a theft at the couple’s Trousdale Estates residence in Beverly Hills. Clarence Avant was not hurt.
Jacqueline Avant served as president of the Neighbors of Watts, a support group that focused on kid treatment. She was also on the board of administrators of UCLA’s Global College student Centre. She was also a member of the board for the Wallis Annenberg Heart for the Undertaking Arts.
The Linked Push contributed to this report.
