Broadway agent and producer Archer King, credited with discovering James Dean, dies in NYC

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Longtime Broadway agent and producer Archer King, who’s credited with discovering a slew of famous actors including James Dean and Ron Howard, has died in New York. He was 95.

His wife, Vivian, said Tuesday that King died of natural causes in a Manhattan nursing home last Thursday.

King got his start in 1939 acting in the Broadway production of “Summer Night.” He later produced a number of Broadway plays, including “Two Blind Mice” and “Miracle in the Mountains.”

King started his own agency, Archer King Ltd., in 1957.

In 1979, King became head of production of the theatre-to-television division of RKO Pictures, where he acquired and produced “Sweeney Todd,” starring Angela Lansbury.

Besides his wife, Archer is survived by a daughter, Elizabeth George.