Remembering Howard Lapides
• We were deeply saddened this weekend to learn that Howard Lapides had passed away. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Lapides, a longtime producer and talent manager who repped and worked with Dr. Drew Pinsky, Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla and Carson Daly, to name a few, died Thursday, August 1 at his home in Encino, CA after a battle with colon cancer, a publicist announced. He was 68. In a statement, Pinsky noted, “Howard was more than a manager. He was family, and I will miss him immensely. He was the architect of everything I’ve ever done. He was my confidant, champion and protector for the past 25-plus years, and I am devastated by this loss.”
As CEO of Lapides Entertainment, Howard also represented Tom Green, Tom Chapin, Pat Bullard, John Wing, Mark DeCarlo, Marianne Curan, Kennedy, attorney Christopher Darden and TV personality Mark Walberg, among others.\
Lapides was the executive producer of VH1’s Celebrity Rehab franchise, which included Celebrity Rehab and Sober House With Dr. Drew, and was managing partner of Dr. Drew Productions, which was launched in 2009. He was also an executive producer for The Man Show and a consultant on Crank Yankers, both created by Kimmel and Carolla. He also executive produced Loveline, hosted by Carolla and Pinsky, and worked with Daly developing MTV’s Total Request Live.
Lapides began his media career at the age of 16 at WYSL-FM/Buffalo, NY. While attending Emerson College in Boston, he produced The Steve Fredericks Show on the late WMEX-AM and did weekends on WEIM-AM/Fitchburg, MA. After graduation, Lapides spent the next five years with Baton Broadcasting of Canada, lending his on-air and programming expertise to the legendary CKLW/Detroit and CFGO/Ottawa. Later, he partnered with Michael Cohl and Donald Tarlton (a.k.a. Donald K. Donald) to promote concerts in Canada.
More recently, Howard was a regular guest on “Magic Matt” Alan’s syndicated Outlaw Radio and a welcome fixture at Art Vuolo‘s annual holiday “Radio Dream Lunches” held at Steve Resnik‘s home and at The Smokehouse in Burbank. Lapides is survived by his wife, Maria; daughter Livia and son Max; and siblings Jeffrey, Sharon and Renee.
