Bert Fields Obituary

Bert Fields, the powerful entertainment litigator whose clients included top notch celebrities such as Edward G. Robinson, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Tom Cruise, Warren Beatty, The Beatles and a host of other luminaries, studios and talent agencies, has died. He was 93.

Fields died peacefully late Sunday night [August 7, 2022] at his Malibu home.

Fields was a partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP and Bob Baradaran, managing partner of Greenberg Glusker, eulogized Fields, saying;

“For forty years, we were graced with Bert’s brilliance, decency, and charm.”

“Bert was a beloved colleague, friend and mentor who trained a generation of outstanding lawyers. We were blessed to know and work with such a truly remarkable lawyer and human being.”

Fields received his B.A. from University of California, Los Angeles in 1949 and his LL.B. from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude) in 1952.

He was a member of the California and New York Bars and his notable clients included Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Warren Beatty, James Cameron, Mike Nichols, Joel Silver, Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Mario Puzo, and John Travolta.

Fields was also an author and;

• In 2005, he published the non-fiction book Players: The Mysterious Identity of William Shakespeare, which deals with the authorship of the plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare.
• In 2015, he published Destiny: A Novel Of Napoleon & Josephine. (ISBN 978-0-9905602-0-3). This historical novel tells the story of the Emperor and his beautiful Creole lover. The novel was published by Marmont Lane.
• In September 2015, he published Shylock: His Own Story. (ISBN 978-0-9905602-4-1). The novel was published by Marmont Lane. It is dedicated to Fields’ friend, actor Dustin Hoffman.
• In 2018, he published Gloriana: Exploring The Reign Of Elizabeth I. (ISBN 978-0-9905602-9-6). Elizabeth I, aka the Virgin Queen, was a colorful figure who still manages to stimulate the popular imagination more than 400 years after her death.

Fields was married thrice (Amy Markson, Lydia Minevitch and finally to Barbara Guggenheim) and at the time of death, he was married to his third wife, art expert Barbara Guggenheim.

Fields is survived by James Elder Fields (born 1955), whom he had with his first wife Amy Markson, a grandson, Michael Lane Fields, born in 1984, and a granddaughter, Annabelle Fields, born in 2005.