Fitz died of lung disease Oct. 23, 2010, in Los Angeles.
Born in Montclair, N.J., Fitz prepped at Lawrenceville. He majored in sociology at Princeton, where his extracurricular activities included WPRB, Undergraduate Schools Committee, Orange Key, rugby, Tiger Inn, 21 Club, and Right Wing Club. He also was president of the Semper Fidelis Society. He will be best remembered, however, as the “Blond Baron” who, armed with barber shears in concert with a small cadre of sophomore classmates, shaved the numerals “59” onto the heads of besieged freshmen.
Fitz served in the Marine Corps, attaining the rank of captain, and earned a law degree at UCLA in 1965. Disdaining the practice, he became active in the music industry, representing, among others, the Beatles, the Who, the Rolling Stones, and Peggy Lee. Forming the management firm Stigwood Fitzpatrick with manager-producer Robert Stigwood, the pair co-managed such acts as the Bee Gees, Cream, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Taj Mahal, the Buckinghams, and Dick Dale & the Del-Tones. He also managed actors Don Johnson and Jay North. After a lung transplant in 1999, Fitz joined Allied Artists as president of its music division, and was later named president of parent company Allied Artists International.
Fitz is survived by his wife, Denise, a stepdaughter, a sister, and his brother, David ’64.