Jeffrey Ballard dies: Veteran Hollywood publicist for Charlie Sheen, Paula Abdul and more turns 64

Jeffrey Ballard, the veteran Hollywood publicist who founded Jeff Ballard Public Relations and represented the industry’s top talent, has died after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 64.

Her death on Jan. 30 at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center was confirmed by Brad Bessey, a spokesman for Project Angel Food, an organization Ballard supported throughout her life.

During a four-decade career, he would represent Charlie Sheen (both during Sheen’s Academy Award promotions platoon And Wall Street), Johnny Depp, Rob Lowe, Zac Efron, Martin Sheen, Paula Abdul, Matthew Perry, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jared Leto, Betty Buckley, Cary Elwes, Rob Gronkowski, Christy McNichol, Christopher Atkins, Willie Ames and many others.

In a statement to Deadline, Sheen said, “As my publicist of 37 years, it’s no secret that he has his work cut out for him. He meets every challenge with class and patience. As my dear friend of 40 years, he is equally loyal to a fault. And was generous. Safe travels JB, you are greatly missed now and forever.

Ballard began his career as a teenager when, as a high school journalism student, he “crashed the set” of television classics. eight is enough Signing his first two clients on the spot — Adam Rich and Dick Van Patten. Ballard remained involved with the company he founded until his death, working with two dozen active clients.

Once dubbed the “boy publicist to the stars” by veteran LA newsman Steve Edwards, Ballard opened Jeff Ballard PR in 1982, shortly after graduating high school. He would later say that among his fondest memories were the many hours he spent in the White House with Nancy Reagan, actively involved in the defining “Just Say No” anti-drug initiative of the 1980s.

Actor Lori Loughlin, a longtime friend of Ballard’s who visited him often during his last days in the hospital, said, “Jeff was a great friend and could always lift your spirits with his wicked sense of humor, which he maintained even in his darkest hours. Jeff was his Grateful for a blessed life, the many friends he made along the way and the opportunities it afforded him. I will miss him dearly.”

Paula Abdul wrote on Instagram, “There are no words to describe the special friendship Jeff and I have had over the last 4 decades. We were teenagers when we admired each other as people and professionals and that lasted from my Laker Girls days to the present day. We worked together, played together and knew we were always there for each other. The word love hardly describes my feelings for Jeff and the compassion I have for all he has soldiered through, but I truly loved him so much. He will be missed in all the lives of those he touched. His long suffering is now over, and I pray that he may rest in eternal peace.”