Kay B. Barrett

Kay Brown Barrett
Born	Katharine Brown December 7, 1902 Hastings on Hudson, New York, U.S.
Died	January 18, 1995 (aged 92) Hightstown, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Agent, Representative, Talent Scout
Spouse(s)	James Barrett

Katharine "Kay" Brown Barrett (December 7, 1902 — January 18, 1995) was a Hollywood talent scout and agent beginning in the 1930s. She is most famous for bringing Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind to the attention of David O. Selznick, for whom she worked, in 1936. She had a long career as representative, talent scout and agent with Leland Hayward, MCA and International Creative Management ("ICM").

Brown was born into New York high society as the daughter of Kate Ross and Henry Collins Brown, a founder of the Museum of the City of New York. In later years, her Hollywood friends were amused by the fact that she was listed in the New York Social Register.

In 1924, she graduated from Wellesley College with a B.A. in English and an interest in drama. After graduation, she went to work for the Mary Arden Theater School in Peterborough, New Hampshire, which was owned by Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Boston lawyer Guy Currier. In 1926, Kennedy and Currier acquired the movie studio Film Booking Offices of America and offered Brown a job in New York reading and acquiring literary properties for the company, with the title "Eastern Story Editor". She stayed with the company, renamed RKO in 1928 after its acquisition by Radio Corporation of America, and achieved her first major success by acquiring Edna Ferber's novel Cimarron. which was being sought by many movie companies, for a then-record $125,000. The movie of the book won the 1931 Academy Award for Best Picture.

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