First, who was Swifty Lazar? It’s one of those names that has been embedded in my consciousness seemingly without antecedent. So, this morning, when–while following a thread from Improprieties–I happened upon a young fellow named Irwin Lazar, my thoughts swiftly turned to Swifty.
Swifty Lazar. The name stood out clearly in my mind, like the crisp label on a file folder in the well organized file cabinet of my awareness. The folder alas was empty.
Luckily the ‘pedia can frame an answer even if the question isn’t clear. Irving Paul “Swifty” Lazar was Bogart’s agent. And Bacall’s. And Cher’s. And Madonna’s. From pop cultural scribblers like Moss Hart and Larry McMurtry to famous literati like Nabokov and Tennessee Williams, Swifty represented them all.
He died in his eighties in 1993. Maybe Irwin is like a great grand-nephew or something.
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Did the thread have anything to do with cigars?
Not that I recall. Maybe something to do with pipes or plutonomics. There’s a lot one could do with “Swifty Lazar” and “cigar.” First free association emerging from the eight ball of my mind this morning is “Rocky Raccoon.”
Although this looks promising…
We just saw a net-flix of David Frost’s interviews with
Richard Nixon. Swifty Lazar was also Nixon’s agent.
He negotiated the deal with Frost for the interviews.