Brian Samuel Epstein (19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967)

Epstein was an English music entrepreneur, best known for managing the Beatles.The Beatles' early success has been attributed to Epstein's management style,and the band trusted him without hesitation.In addition to handling the Beatles' business affairs,Epstein often stepped in to mediate personal disputes within the group.The Beatles' unquestioning loyalty to Epstein would later prove detrimental,as the band rarely read contracts before signing them.Shortly after the song"Please Please Me" rose to the top of the charts in 1963,Epstein advised the creation of Northern Songs,a publishing company that would control the copyrights of all Lennon-McCartney compositions recorded between 1963 and 1973. Music publisher Dick James and his partner Charles Silver owned 51% of the company, Lennon and McCartney each owned 20%, and Epstein owned 9%.By 1969, Lennon and McCartney had lost control of all publishing rights to ATV Music Publishing. Still, Epstein's death in 1967 marked the beginning of the group's downfall and had a profound effect on each individual Beatle. In 1997, Paul McCartney said, "If anyone was the Fifth Beatle,it was Brian." Epstein died of an overdose of Carbitral,a form of barbiturate or sleeping pill in his locked bedroom, on 27 August 1967.He was discovered after his butler had knocked on the door, and then hearing no response, asked the housekeeper to call the police. Epstein was found on a single bed in his pajamas with various correspondence spread over a second single bed.At the statutory inquest his death was officially ruled an accident;caused by a gradual buildup of Carbitral in his system,combined with alcohol.It was revealed that he had taken 6 Carbitral pills in order to sleep,which was probably normal for him,but in combination with alcohol they reduced his tolerance to lethal levels.