{{Short description|American film industry publicist (1921–2008)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Warren Cowan | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1921|03|13}} | birth_place = New York City, NY, U.S. | birth_name = | other_names = | death_date = {{death date and age|2008|05|14|1921|03|13}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | education = | occupation = film industry publicist | children = 3, including Claudia Cowan | spouse = Ronnie Cowan<br />({{abbr|m.|married}} 194?; {{abbr|div.|divorced}} 195?)<br />{{marriage|Barbara Rush<br />|1959 |1970|end=divorced}}<br />Josette Banzet<br />({{abbr|m.|married}} 1973; {{abbr|div.|divorced}} 1979)<br /> Barbara Gilbert<br />({{abbr|m.|married}} 1995) | website = }}
'''Warren Cowan''' (March 13, 1921 – May 14, 2008) was an American film industry publicist. He co-founded the public relations company Rogers & Cowan in 1954 and founded his own company, Cowan & Associates, in 1994.<ref>Amy Wallace, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150329063024/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-79396165.html "Sharper Image Man"], ''Los Angeles'', November 1, 2001. via HighBeam Research.</ref> He was described as "one of Hollywood’s most powerful and innovative publicists" at the time of his death.<ref name="NYTObit">Bruce Weber, [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/business/media/16cowan.html?partner=BREITBART&_r=0 "Warren Cowan, a Star at Promoting Stars, Dies at 87"], ''The New York Times'', May 16, 2008.</ref><ref name=LATimesObit>Dennis McLellan, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-16-et-cowan16-story.html "Warren Cowan, 1921 - 2008: Legendary Hollywood press agent"], ''Los Angeles Times'', May 16, 2008.</ref>
==Early life== thumb|Townsend Harris High School He was born to a Jewish family<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1zGBwAAQBAJ&q=hubgry+jewish&pg=PT140|first=Dick|last=Guttman|title=Starflacker: Inside the Golden Age of Hollywood|date=April 2, 2015|publisher=Guttman Associates, Incorporated |isbn=9780986407116}} {{dead link|date=February 2023}}</ref> in New York City, the son of songwriter Rubey Cowan<ref name="NYTObit" /> and Grace Cowan.<ref>[http://archives.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005120897#.V2yGMI-cGmQ Idaho Mountain Express Obituaries: "Warren Cowan"] May 30, 2008</ref> He had one older brother, Stanley, who was also a songwriter.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051504196.html Washington Post: "Warren Cowan; Press Agent for Hollywood Stars" by Jeff Wilson] May 16, 2008</ref><ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-17-mn-610-story.html Los Angeles Times: "Stanley Cowan; Songwriter, Film Composer"] December 17, 1991</ref> He attended Townsend Harris High School, a school for boys on the educational fast track.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/business/media/16cowan.html|title = Warren Cowan, a Star at Promoting Stars, Dies at 87|newspaper = The New York Times|date = May 16, 2008|last1 = Weber|first1 = Bruce}}</ref> While attending the University of California, Los Angeles, Cowan majored in journalism and represented actress Linda Darnell.<ref name="NYTObit" /> Cowan served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II for three years.<ref name="NYTObit" /><ref name=LATimesObit />
==Career== In 1946, Cowan joined the firm established by Henry C. Rogers.<ref name="NYTObit" /> In 1950, he became a partner in the firm, which then changed its name to Rogers & Cowan.<ref name="NYTObit" /> He was named president in 1964.<ref name="NYTObit" /> Rogers & Cowan became one of the largest entertainment public relations firm in the world<ref name="NYTObit" /><ref>[http://annenberg.usc.edu/AboutUs/PublicAffairs/AbergNews/release20060412.aspx Profile], Annenberg,usc.edu; accessed September 18, 2015.</ref> handling not only entertainers but also high-tech manufacturers, athletes, publishers, movie studios and trade unions.<ref name="NYTObit" /> Whenever he was asked to name his favourite client, Cowan's constant answer was always "the next one."<ref>[http://www.healthyhearing.com/library/interview_content.asp?interview_id=205 Interview with Warren Cowan], healthyhearing.com; accessed September 18, 2015.</ref>
In 1950, Cowan staged the first celebrity charity-fundraiser, a golf tournament on behalf of motion picture director Frank Borzage.<ref name=LATimesObit /> Rogers was the first agent to actively solicit public support for his client's nomination for an Academy Award, starting with Joan Crawford's performance in 1945's ''Mildred Pierce''; she won Best Actress.<ref name=LATimesObit /> In 1997, Cowan personally introduced Italian actor Roberto Benigni to his already famous American peers, all of them Cowan clients and Academy voters, on behalf of Miramax. Benigni and his picture, ''Life Is Beautiful'', won three Oscars that year.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}
In 1988, Rogers & Cowan company was sold to Shandwick Plc., an English conglomerate.<ref name="NYTObit" /> "It was the right move to make in some respects, but I found that I was doing too much that was administrative and too little that was creative," Cowan said.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} Cowan remained as chairman until 1992.<ref name=LATimesObit /> In 1994,after a two-year non-competitive period, he launched a new company, Warren Cowan & Associates.<ref name=LATimesObit />
==Personal life== Cowan had five marriages, four of which ended in divorce, including two to actress Barbara Rush.<ref name="NYTObit" />
He and his first wife, entertainment columnist Ronnie Cowan (1926-1997), had two daughters, Bonnie and Linda. Linda was killed by a drunk driver in 1989.<ref>[https://variety.com/1997/scene/people-news/ronnie-cowan-1117433099/ "Ronnie Cowan, a Hollywood columnist based in London for Screen International throughout the 1970s and the former wife of public relations executive Warren Cowan, died Monday of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Beverly Hills at age 71"] January 23, 1997</ref><ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-16-me-8-story.html Los Angeles Times: "A Tale of Two Women" by Al Martinez] December 16, 1989</ref>
He had one child with his second wife Barbara Rush, Fox News Channel reporter Claudia Cowan.<ref name="NYTObit" />
His third wife was French actress Josette Banzet.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19760229&id=dYdPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mwUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4943,6575113&hl=en Ocala Star-Banner: "Actress Takes Her Work Home" by Dick Kleiner] February 29, 1976</ref>
His fourth marriage was to Barbara Gilbert-Cowan, daughter of comedy writer Harry Crane, to whom he remained married until his death. She is the mother of actors Melissa Gilbert, Sara Gilbert, and Jonathan Gilbert.
He had eight grandchildren.<ref name="NYTObit" /> He died on May 14, 2008, of cancer at his home in Los Angeles.<ref name="NYTObit" /> He is buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.<ref name="LATimesObit" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4045036.ece The Times - Obituary]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} * {{EmmyTVLegends name|warren-cowan|Warren Cowan}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Warren}} Category:1921 births Category:2008 deaths Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:Businesspeople from Queens, New York Category:Mass media people from Los Angeles Category:American public relations people Category:United States Army Air Forces soldiers Category:Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Deaths from cancer in California Category:Townsend Harris High School alumni Category:Jewish American military personnel Category:American businesspeople in the entertainment industry Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American Jews Category:21st-century American Jews