Motion picture agent vet Spencer Baumgarten passed away at his home peacefully Monday evening, Deadline has learned. He was 62.
Baumgarten’s cause of death, we hear, was due to complications from leukemia (AML).
Known as a fierce advocate for his clients for over three decades, Baumgarten’s clients throughout his career included Jon Favreau, Gore Verbinski, Rodrigo Bernardo, Heather McGowan, Steve Conrad and many others.
Baumgarten began his career in 1988 in the entertainment business as an assistant to Joe Rosenberg, thereafter, spending time at Endeavor, CAA, and ICM. He left ICM Partners in September 2019 as Motion Picture Co-Head and Partner to form SMB Ent., a management and production company. At ICM, Baumgarten was involved with the teams for such clients as John Woo, Robert Orci, actress Jingchu Zhang, and filmmaker Joseph Kahn, among others.
He is survived by his partner Kimberly Boyd, former spouse Lara, who is an attorney at the Walt Disney Company, his three daughters Bayley, Jayne, and Kate, his siblings Joel, Bobby and Marna, Chip (his beloved dog), and a circle of close friends.
A Celebration of Life will be held in the coming months. We are told that Baumgarten was forever grateful to Dr. Forman and the staff at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, where the family kindly requests donations be made.