Yahoo News Cari Ross, Gersh Communications Chief, Dies at 59
Cari Ross, the veteran marketing and publicity executive who joined Gersh last year to lead its communications efforts, died Wednesday, the talent agency’s co-president Leslie Siebert told staff members. She was 59.
She died in Los Angeles, and a heart condition was cited as the cause of death.
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Ross joined the Beverly Hills-based firm in July 2022 as its first in-house communications executive and as senior vp led efforts to promote Gersh’s corporate announcements, media relations and industry initiatives.
Before joining the agency, run by co-presidents David and Bob Gersh and Siebert, Ross ran her own company, Balance Public Relations, and worked on marketing campaigns for awards season in the Oscars, Emmys, SAG Awards, Tony Awards and Golden Globes space. She also coordinated fundraisers and media events for talent.
Ross also worked for years at public relations giant ID PR in New York, serving as senior vp, and at the firm Baker Winokur Ryder. When leaving ID in 2011, her clients included Jennifer Connelly, Salma Hayek, Dylan McDermott and Julianna Margulies.
“I am deeply saddened to learn and inform you of the passing of our friend and colleague Cari Ross,” wrote Siebert to staff on Thursday. “On behalf of Gersh, we send our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends. Her dedication, passion and commitment to her work and her contributions to our team at Gersh will always be remembered.”
Born in January 1964, Ross attended Harvard-Westlake School in L.A. and Pitzer College in Claremont, California.
“Growing up I always thought I would be a lawyer,” she said in a 2017 interview. “When I was in college, my brother was in law school and he talked me out of it. He made law school sound terrible. Then I was faced with: Oh, no? Now, what?
“Romy, my friend since 4th grade, said: ‘You should be a publicist.’ I had no idea what that meant, so when I asked she said, ‘Cari, you would be perfect at that job because you love talking on the phone and telling people what to do.’ One-hundred percent true story. It sounded good to me, so I did an internship at a PR firm, and my career was launched.”
She started out at ID in 2003 and launched Balance PR in 2011.
Asked what advice she would give to young women of today, she replied: “Don’t let your life get away from you because you are so busy with your career. Yes, work to achieve your goals, but maintain a balance so you can enjoy other parts of your life.”
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