Seinfeld producer George Shapiro has died at the age of 91

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Producer George Shapiro attends the premiere of the HBO documentary "If you're not in Obit, eat breakfast," on May 17, 2017 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.
Producer George Shapiro attends the premiere of the HBO documentary “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast” on May 17, 2017 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California. Photo by ROBYN BECK /AFP via Getty Images

Acclaimed Hollywood talent manager and TV producer George Shapiro has died at the age of 91 after a lifetime representing stars from Jerry Seinfeld and Carl Reiner to Andy Kaufman.

He died of natural causes at his Beverly Hills home on Thursday, but no further details about the circumstances surrounding his death have been released.

In addition to running his talent company, Shapiro is best known as the executive producer of Seinfeld, one of the world’s most profitable and widely viewed sitcoms in history, which is still in reruns after its original airing of 180 episodes from 1989-1998.

He also produced several stand-up specials for comedian Jerry Seinfeld, 68, and appeared in the 2002 documentary Comedian, in which Seinfeld tries to return to comedy.

He is also fondly remembered for his close personal relationship with the late actor and prankster Andy Kaufman, 35 – with their friendship dramatized in the 1999 Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon, which starred Jim Carrey, 60, as a comedian and Danny DeVito (77) starred , plays Shapiro.

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The producer is survived by his wife and mother of his children, Melody, along with his son Danny, daughters Carrie and Stefanie and their five grandchildren.

Other shows Shapiro was involved with were The Steve Allen Show, That Girl and Gomer Pyle.

His last production was The Super Bob Einstein Movie which was released on HBO last year.

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Stars and friends have taken to social media to pay tribute.

These included veteran producer of The Jeffersons Norman Lear, 99, who posted a picture on Twitter of him smiling with Shapiro and her weird boyfriend Mel Brooks, 95.

He added in a caption alongside the snap: “One of the dearest people I have ever known, George Shapiro, has just passed away. I bless our friendship and I’m sure I’ll see him again relatively soon at 99.”

One fan tweeted: “Cannot overstate the impact this guy made as he cultivated comedy. You saw the ‘Shapiro/West’ vitel card on something and knew you were getting the real ‘goods’… , and, we’re losing them at a rate of knots lately, huh?

Another said online: “RIP to George Shapiro, who started in the mail room at William Morris and later managed Carl Reiner, Jerry Seinfeld and Andy Kaufmann. He was also executive producer on Seinfeld.”

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