Sanford “Sandy" Wernick, legendary talent manager and entertainment executive, has died at age 86. He died peacefully on March 05, 2026 after a brief illness in Rancho Mirage, CA, surrounded by his family and loved ones.

As a Partner and Sr. Executive VP of Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Sandy was involved in personal management, TV & motion picture packaging and producing. Before becoming a manager in the 1970’s, he was an agent, working his way from the mailroom at MCA to Vice President of the TV Division at ICM.

In television, Sandy co-created and executive produced “Def Comedy Jam”. In addition, he was integral to the packaging and production of shows such as “Saturday Night Live”, “The Muppet Show”, “The Sopranos”, “Politically Incorrect”, “Just Shoot Me”, “NewsRadio”, Alf", “The Larry Sanders Show”, “Rules of Engagement”, “The Goldbergs” and “The Jim Gaffigan Show”. In feature films, Sandy was an executive producer on “Happy Gilmore”, “Billy Madison”, “The Wedding Singer” and “Bulletproof”, and was involved in various capacities in over 20 other motion pictures. He was lovingly pastiched in Adam Sandler’s “Sandy Wexler” movie on Netflix and has made cameo appearances as an actor in several motion pictures and TV shows.

As a manager and agent, his diverse client list of actors, writers, producers, directors and designers included Adam Sandler, Tim Herlihy, John Davies, Akira (Leo) Yoshimura, Lorne Michaels, Ray Klausen, Don Mischer, Stan Lathan, Jeff Ross, Marilyn Wilson, Marty Pasetta, Victor Levin, Buz Kohan, Colin Quinn, Rob Schneider, Norm Crosby, Peter Falk, Alexandra Pelosi and many more.

Over the years, he was part of many groundbreaking deals and negotiations, both for his own clients and as a consultant for his colleagues’ clients and was widely known for his masterful dealmaking skills.

Sandy was also a fervent believer in paying it forward and spent years as an Adjunct Professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts' Peter Stark Producing Program and as a volunteer in the Cedars Sinai Emergency Room.

Sandy was born on March 22, 1939, in the Bronx and graduated from NYU. He was an avid golfer, a former yo-yo champion, and served in the Army from 1960-1962. A dedicated family man, he is survived by his wife Barbara of 64 years, daughter Michele, son Barry and daughter-in-law Jillian, grandson Sammy, sister Joyce and brother-in-law Jules, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.