Joe Sutton was an American radio and television host, music business executive, and publicist.
For decades, he represented a number of high-profile Hollywood clients including Drew Barrymore, Jerry Seinfeld, and Burt Reynolds.
Sutton began in public relations as an office boy for Rogers & Cowan before he rose through the ranks to become a publicist. His first company, Freeman & Sutton Public Relations, represented clients such as The Doors, The Smothers Brothers, The Beach Boys, Bill Cosby, Chuck Barris, James Caan, Bob Denver, and Jill St. John.
He established another management company specifically for musicians, helming the careers of Neil Diamond, Ricky Nelson, and Lou Rawls, and yet another firm that represented Patty Duke, Martin Lawrence, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and The American Film Institute.
In 1998, Sutton launched a radio show, Talking with Joe, which aired first on KYPA radio in Los Angeles before moving to CBS-owned KLSX under a new title, The Heart of Hollywood.
Along with producer Jennifer Clymer, Sutton recorded more than 250 conversations with show business veterans living at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement community in Woodland Hills, California. Under the banner MPTF Behind the Silver Screen, the interviews were televised on a dedicated channel shown on the facility's campus.
Sutton died July 16, 2020, in Los Angeles, California. He was 83.