Sandy Gallin led a varied life in show business. He was an agent and talent manager, representing Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Mariah Carey and Limp Bizkit; he led Michael Jackson out of crisis mode in the early ‘90s; teamed Cass Elliot with John Phillips, Denny Doherty and Michelle Phillips to create The Mamas & the Papas; he produced TV shows and films, eventually partnering with Dolly Parton; and late in life he designed luxury homes. Gallin died today at 76 after a long battle with multiple myeloma.

As a young agent at General Artists Corp in New York, Gallin represented Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell and Paul Anka, and discovered Richard Pryor. Between 1962 and ’67, Gallin landed all of his clients on The Ed Sullivan Show, Hollywood Palace and Hullabaloo. He worked his way up through the agency's music, TV and packaging departments and became a senior vice president at age 28.

That involvement with variety shows led him to move to the West Coast in 1970 to begin producing for television. He partnered with his cousin Raymond Katz on a management firm and started putting together TV series and specials for his clients, among them The Pointer Sisters, Jackson, Cher, Parton and Patti Labelle.

He split with Katz, creating his own management firm with Jim Morey, Gallin Morey, in 1985, and Sandollar with Parton, which produced Rhinestone (1984) and Straight Talk (1992). From the late 1980s to the end of the ‘90s, he was a prolific producer with hits that included Father of the Bride, Andrew Dice Clay’s The Diceman Cometh, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, HBO's Oscar-winning AIDS documentary Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt, and Angel.

Gallin started managing Jackson in August 1990, and engineered his appearances at the Super Bowl and on the Grammy Awards, American Music Awards and President Clinton's pre-inaugural gala; he also arranged the televised sit-down with Oprah Winfrey.

Gallin also created Mirage Entertainment & Sports with Steve Wynn in Las Vegas and produced a handful of Broadway shows.

As a designer of luxury homes, his client list included Marvin Hamlisch, Kenny G, Frank Sinatra, Shelli and Irving Azoff, Deborah and Allen Grubman and Jimmy Iovine.