An all-around master of hype, Zarem was New York's original celebrity publicist, that is until he retired in 2010.

Zarem grew up in Savannah, Ga. and spent his childhood years obsessed with the silver screen stars of the 1950s. After attending Yale and a short stint in the National Guard, Zarem landed at Broadway producer Joe Levine's firm. In the late 1960s he moved to Rogers & Cowan where he worked alongside super-publicist Pat Kingsley, before heading out on his own in 1974 and founding Zarem Inc. Since then, he's represented countless celebrities, shilled countless movies and Broadway shows, and planned countless swanky events. Or, as Zarem prefers to describe it, "I'm the guy who kept it out of Page Six that name-withheld was giving head to name-withheld under the table at Elaine's."

Over his three decades in the biz, Zarem's repped Kirk Douglas, Alan Alda, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert Altman, Dustin Hoffman and James Caan; he's promoted dozens of movies that went on to be hits like Saturday Night Fever, Rambo, Scarface, and Dances With Wolves; and he's represented a handful of New York institutions like Tavern on the Green. Along the way, he's even altered the very image of New York: With designer Milton Glaser, Zarem came up with the iconic "I Love New York" ad campaign. But to many New Yorkers who were out and about in the 1970s, he's best known for organizing some of the era's biggest parties. One of his most famous events: the premiere of the rock movie Tommy, when he managed to get 750 of New York's most notable to attend a dinner-dance at the 57th Street subway station, which he'd rented for the occasion. However, after decades in the business, he decided to settle back in Georgia, but Zarem Inc., bearing his name, soldiers on. [Image via Getty]