Skip Brittenham, the powerful Hollywood attorney who represented clients including Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis and Eddie Murphy, died Thursday. He was 83.
Brittenham founded Ziffren Brittenham, which confirmed his death, with Ken Ziffren in 1978. He worked on major deals such as the launch of Pixar, David Ellison’s Skydance Media and Christopher Meledandri’s Illumination Entertainment as well as the split of DreamWorks into two entities. The value of the deals he helped negotiate was said to be more than $1 billion annually.
He had recently left Ziffren Brittenham and remained a partner emeritus.
Ziffren Brittenham represented numerous top entertainment clients including Drew Carey, Michael Keaton, Ridley Scott, Shawn Levy, Kevin Feige, Toby Emmerich, Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman.
Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures, said, “Singular is an overused word: it should be reserved for the exceedingly rare likes of Skip Brittenham. A dear friend and valued advisor to me for my entire career, Skip was the wisest man I knew and among the very best. I’m sure he is fishing a big river in heaven as we mourn the passing of a true original.”
He served on the board of corporations including DreamWorks Animation, Pixar and Loews Cineplex, as well as on the board of numerous charities such as Conservation International. He received the Spirit of Liberty Award from People for the American Way, and was honored with his wife by the Alliance for Children’s Rights with the National Champion Award.
Brittenham graduated from UCLA School of Law in 1970 and served in the Air Force. He was an avid fly fisherman and served on the U.S. National Team. In 2012, he co-wrote a graphic novel, “Anomaly,” which he worked on developing as a film.
He is survived by his wife, actor and activist Heather Thomas, and three daughters.
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