Bill Cunningham Dies: CESD Talent Agency Founder Was 96

William “Bill” Cunningham, who more than 50 years ago founded the company that became CESD Talent Agency, has died at 96. The agency said he died July 15 at his West Hollywood home but gave no other details.

Starting out as Cunningham & Associations in the early 1970s, CESD now is led by partners Ken Slevin and Paul Doherty. Specializing in commercial, voice-over, print, digital influencer, theatrical/TV-film and young performer talent, it has 32 agents spread over two offices in Los Angeles and New York.

Born on January 2, 1927, in San Francisco, Cunningham was enamored with the movies at an early age and eventually found his way to Hollywood. But his country called, and Cunningham enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served aboard the PGM11 minesweeper craft during World War II. He also was a singer, and joined and toured with Fort Emory Drum and Bugle Corp, playing to audiences throughout the Pacific theater.

After getting his start on NBC’s Voices of Walter Schumann and The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show, he sang on numerous motion picture soundtracks for Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros, as well as various commercials. He was the original voice and crooner of Ken, Barbie’s boyfriend, for Mattel Toys. Cunningham went on to tour with Judy Garland and sang with Dinah Shore. His debut album, I’m Always Chasing Rainbows, was financed by Fred Astaire.

In 1963, Cunningham was encouraged by his friend, the singer and TV personality Peggy Taylor, to invest his life saving in a startup called Pacific Artists Agency. One of the first talent agencies in Los Angeles, it located at Crossroads of the World on Sunset Boulevard and launched with 10 voice-overs actors. He took a book of headshots with handwritten bios and dropped them off in person to the producers of the top ad agencies in town.

By 1967, Pacific Artists became Cunningham & Associates, and by 1971, the company’s success led him to open a second office in New York followed by a third in Chicago the same year. T.J. Escott joined the firm that year and helped bring it to nationwide prominence. In just a few short years, Cunningham & Associates, now known as CESD, would be the most successful, bicoastal commercial/VO talent agency in the business. with style and integrity. 

Cunningham retired in 1989 and published his autobiography, I Wonder What Became of Me, in 2014.