Agent and DGRW Founding Partner Jim Wilhelm Passes Away at 68

Theatrical agent JIM WILHELM passed away early Monday morning, April 24th, 2023 in New York City at the age of 68 after a short, quiet fight with cancer. Jim was one of the original founding partners of Douglas, Gorman, Rothacker & Wilhelm, Inc. (DGRW), one of New York's most preeminent theatrical agencies since its inception in 1988.

Jim Wilhelm began his career in the theatre as an actor (earning his Equity card at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera) and worked as a stage manager, public relations director and casting director before he became a talent agent. He served as the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Talent Representatives (NATR), in addition to being an active participant in, and a founding board member of Broadway Cares (BCEFA), an organization whose purpose is to raise awareness of and funds for programs that provide care and services to people in the entertainment industry, and others, living with HIV and AIDS. In 2010, he was accorded the honor of being the first theatrical agent in history to be made a voter for the annual Tony Awards, honoring the best of the Broadway theatre.

Over the years, Wilhelm has represented television and film actors such as two-time Academy Award winner Olivia de Havilland (Gone With The Wind), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hawaii 5-0), Lynn Cohen (Sex & The City, The Hunger Games/Catching Fire), Lainie Kazan (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Cybill Shepard (Moonlighting, The Big C), as well as Broadway stars such as Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables), Alice Ripley (Next to Normal, SideShow), Elaine Paige (Follies, Evita, Chess, Cats), Sandy Duncan (Peter Pan), Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid), Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, Angels in America), Douglas Sills (The Addams Family, The Scarlet Pimpernel), Keala Settle (Greatest Showman), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Kiss Me Kate, Ragtime) and, in addition to Lea Salonga, Disney "Princesses" Paige O'Hara and Jodi Benson.

Mr. Wilhelm has conducted seminars and master classes on working in professional theatre at universities and conservatories across the country, including NYU, North Carolina School of the Arts, the Boston Conservatory, Elon University and, most prominently, at the University of Cincinnati/College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he established a yearly scholarship to be awarded to an outstanding senior musical theatre major in the name of his late client and friend, the Broadway and recording artist Laurie Beechman. He holds a BA in Communications and Theatre from Gannon University in Erie, PA and is listed in Who's Who in the East. In 2021, after 45 years in New York City, Jim retired to Milford, Pennsylvania with his husband, Jeff Potter.

Jim Wilhelm was the son of the late James Edward Wilhelm and Patricia Ann (Walter) Wilhelm of Erie, PA. He is survived by his husband of 40 years, Jeff Potter, his brother Tim Wilhelm and sister-in-law Sandy (Turco) Wilhelm, brother and sister-in-law Keith and Franceine (SanFelippo) Potter, many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins, as well as numerous friends and colleagues. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.