Devra Wasserman, Wife of Literary Agent Larry Becsey, Dies at 74

Devra Wasserman, a onetime executive assistant in Hollywood and the wife of producer, literary agent and manager Larry Becsey, has died. She was 74.

Wasserman died Oct. 23 at her home in Los Angeles after a long battle with ALS, her husband announced.

Born on July 31, 1950, Devi Jane Wasserman was raised in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis. She graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1968 and from the University of Denver in 1972.

She moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to start a career in the entertainment business and spent years as an executive assistant to major entertainment executives and attorneys.

Wasserman met Becsey in 1997, and they married in 2006. They traveled the world for his work and for their pleasure until the onset of ALS 13 years ago began to limit her mobility.  

She and her husband were board of governors supporters at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and were patrons of MOMA, LACMA, Disney Hall, Segerstrom, Center Theatre Group and numerous dance companies around the world. 

Wasserman loved overnight mountaineering and hiking with the Sierra Club — she completed 444 mountains and the Sierra Club’s HPS Finish List in 1995 — climbing mountains all over the western U.S. before ALS took its toll.

Becsey co-founded the literary management company Intellectual Property Group and produced In the Valley of Elah (2007), which was directed and co-written by Paul Haggis and starred Tommy Lee Jones in an Oscar-nominated turn.

In addition to her husband, survivors include her brother, David; cousins Mel, Holly, Burton, Rob and Jeri; nieces Jillian and Lisa; and nephew Mark.

A celebration of her life will take place this month. Donations in her memory can be made to the ALS Network or to Cedars-Sinai in support of ALS research.