Leonard Morpurgo, the London-born international publicist and communications executive whose career included senior posts at Rogers & Cowan, Universal Studios, Columbia Pictures, CBS Theatrical Films and Lorimar Pictures, has died. He was 93.
Morpurgo died Aug. 12 in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer, Weissman/Markovitz Communications president Rick Markovitz announced. (Morpurgo was a vice president at the firm.)
“Leonard brought uncommon experience, intelligence and perspective to every campaign and every conversation,” Markovitz said. “He was a skilled raconteur, and I will miss his passion for storytelling and hearing about the old days of Hollywood.”
Morpurgo worked behind the scenes with many of the entertainment industry’s most enduring figures. His experiences and observations informed his 2009 memoir, Of Kings and Queens and Movie Stars, a collection of stories recalling encounters with the likes of Cary Grant, Steve McQueen and Omar Sharif.
“He was in one desert for the filming of Lawrence of Arabia and another for Dune,” his son Thierry said in a statement. “That was the kind of life he led — always close to the world of movies, wherever the work took him.”
