Biographie
Celebrating over 50 years as a corporation and one of the longest-standing franchises in New York, Archer King remains as dynamic and active as ever. With a diverse background as an actor, producer, distributor, film packager, and entertainment consultant, Archer began his career on stage, appearing in the 1939 Broadway production "Summer Night." His acting career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served worldwide. After the war, he returned to theater, producing several Broadway plays, including Sam Spewack's "Two Blind Mice." In 1952, he joined the Louis Shurr Agency as an agent but soon established his own agency in 1957. Archer is credited with discovering talents such as James Dean, Jason Robards, Jack Warden, Martin Sheen, Paul Mazursky, Elizabeth Montgomery, and Ron Howard. He also represented notable clients like John Cassavetes, Broderick Crawford, Bette Midler, Dorothy Malone, Alexis Smith, and Tommy Tune. In 1963, Archer King Ltd., under Kanawha Films Ltd., acquired and distributed several foreign films, introducing European directors who later achieved great success, including Roman Polanski's "Knife in the Water" and Volker Schlöndorff's "Young Törless," both Academy Award nominees. In the late 1970s, while maintaining his agency franchise, Archer became head of production for the Theatre-to-Television division at RKO Pictures. There, he acquired and produced the award-winning "Sweeney Todd" starring Angela Lansbury, which received an ACE Award, as well as the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "The Gin Game," starring Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. Today, he continues to seek out new and exciting talent among actors, directors, and writers, while actively packaging plays and screenplays, producing, and distributing films.
