{"id":25604,"date":"2016-11-18T19:54:07","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T19:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=25604"},"modified":"2016-11-18T19:54:07","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T19:54:07","slug":"tributerip-fred-wostbrock-rip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/tributerip-fred-wostbrock-rip\/","title":{"rendered":"TRIBUTE\/RIP: FRED WOSTBROCK, RIP"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRED WOSTBROCK, RIP<\/h1>\n

I had a soul-crushing shock earlier this week when I learned that my former variety agent, the darling Fred Wostbrock, had passed away. That guy had never been less than vibrant in the over two decades that I\u2019ve known him. And with that strong, clear, booming voice of his, I just thought he would live forever. I think we all did.<\/p>\n

\"fred_01\"<\/a>There\u2019s so much to say about my entertaining old pal. That man absolutely adored his clients! I\u2019ve seriously never met another agent like him. And he loved wearing those tight pants! His \u201870s hipster appearance always brought a smile to my face.<\/p>\n

Even though, as someone who so respects the English language, I sort-of hated this one thing about him, I also appreciated the kindness of it\u2014Fred let people mispronounce his name, to make it more convenient for them. (His last name is \u201cWo<\/em>stbrock<\/em>,\u201d but he never corrected the idiots who insisted on calling him \u201cWe<\/em>stbrook<\/em>.\u201d He even started doing it himself, to make it easier on everybody!) When I\u2019d beg him to please set people straight on his name, he\u2019d just shrug his shoulders and resignedly say, \u201cWhat are you going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

He was also uber-neat. I once brought an advertising exec to a meeting with him, and when Fred took a phone call, the ad guy pointed-out that I was making a mess with my headshots. He said, \u201cCan\u2019t you see how neat the guy is?! There\u2019s not even a paperclip<\/em> out of place in his whole office!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2016-11-18-at-11-53-03-am\"<\/a>And, if there was something nice<\/em> to say, where others would leave their compliments in their thoughts, Fred made sure to give you your props. I loved going in to see him.\u00a0 He always analyzed exactly what was good about me each time, from head to toe, which inspired me to leave his office with my head held a little higher than when I got there.<\/p>\n

And when others would have annoyed me with this agent request, he made me laugh: Through Fred, Playboy<\/em> kept offering me more and more money to pose for them. Of course, I kept declining, but, every time they came back with more, Fred begged me to do it. Instead of getting exasperated with him, I just laughed, because it was Fred. I would have heavily chastised anyone else. But he had such a twinkle in his eye about it, (and even in his voice<\/em>, if we were discussing it on the phone,) how could I be angry with him?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s something else that impressed me about him: I\u2019ve been giving my business people holiday gifts for just about my entire professional life, with barely even a \u201cthank you\u201d from most of the recipients. So, I was in for a wonderful surprise when, during our first year together, I gave Fred a book about game shows, which is the thing he loved most in life. He not only thanked me profusely<\/em> for it, he also broke down for me why it was such a thoughtful gift! To this day, I\u2019ve never received a more wonderful acknowledgement than that one.<\/p>\n

\"fredwostbrock\"<\/a>I’ve felt a tad guilty for a long while because someone in the business lured me away from him several years ago.\u00a0 A talent coordinator who watched my show insisted that I go with a different agent, because, as she put it, \u201cFred represents only old men hosts!\u201d\u00a0 But that was one of the very things that made him so endearing. When so many others in the biz have forgotten about that category, Fred talked about those clients as though they were Bradley Cooper or Ryan Gosling! (But the woman did<\/em> convince me to move. And, happily for me, Fred took the news as graciously as he did everything, and wished me all the luck in the world. And made it clear that he was happy to stay in touch.)<\/p>\n

Even though, since the time that I left him professionally, we haven\u2019t talked that much, the second we did<\/em> connect, we picked-up as though we had just talked the day before. Fred always asked the most aware, thoughtful questions, and every single time that we spoke, we had a good laugh about a childhood photo of him that he kept in a secret drawer to show to only a very few select people. I\u2019ll never forget that<\/em> fun!<\/p>\n

Fred always had a big smile on his face. Which is making me have one on mine as I\u2019m writing this, if only through my tears.<\/p>\n

RIP, Fred Wostbrock.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FRED WOSTBROCK, RIP I had a soul-crushing shock earlier this week when I learned that my former variety agent, the darling Fred Wostbrock, had passed away. That guy had never been less than vibrant in the over two decades that I\u2019ve known him. And with that strong, clear, booming voice of his, I just thought<\/p>\n

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