Vincent G. Liff, a partner in the casting firm of Johnson-Liff, died Tuesday morning at his home in New York. Liff passed away following a long fight with brain cancer. He was 52.
Known in the casting profession as "Vinnie," Liff -- together with his partner Geoffrey Johnson -- turned Johnson-Liff Casting Associates into a leader in casting Broadway musicals for nearly three decades.
Contacted Tuesday evening, Johnson said by phone, "It's been a wonderful and long-running partnership. I'm very sad to lose a good friend."
Vincent Graham Liff was born June 3, 1950 in West Hartford, Conn. After graduating from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich. in 1973, he moved to New York, grabbing his first entertainment-industry experience as an intern with the New York Shakespeare Festival.
He later joined Otto & Windsor Casting -- the first independent casting office in New York City -- as an assistant casting director. There he met and worked with Johnson. Their projects included the original Broadway production of "Grease," which set the stage for Johnson-Liff's eventual forming.
In 1976, Johnson and Liff moved into offices at 850 Seventh Ave., carrying over old Otto & Windsor clients including "Grease," "The Wiz," "The Robber Bridegroom," and "Equus."
From there, Johnson-Liff cast over 150 Broadway and touring productions including "The Phantom of the Opera," "Les Miserables," "Cats," "Miss Saigon," "Dreamgirls," and "The Producers."
Their casting skills also aided film productions, including "Grease II" and "Little Shop of Horrors," and such television shows as the miniseries "The Holocaust" and the soap opera "Another World."
Twenty-seven years later, located at 1501 Broadway, they were still casting the cream of Broadway until the firm closed at the end of last December. By that time, the Casting Society of America had awarded Johnson-Liff the Hoyt Bowers Award -- for outstanding contribution to the casting profession -- and six Artios Awards for outstanding casting of productions.