Meet The Ham Fam!
Lynne Hamilton
Co-Owner, Agency Director
Lynne grew up listening to Shirley build her business both at the office and at home. She would take dictation of Shirley's "take home" at the age of twelve. She knew many of Shirley's clients when she was young and many of Shirley's clients knew Lynne when she was short. After earning her BS in Mathematics from Purdue University, and then her Masters in Theology, Lynne left teaching to join Shirley's agency full time. At Shirley Hamilton Inc, she has used her math and counseling skills everyday ever since. Lynne continues developing relationships between our clients ranging from ad agencies, film and print producers, and casting directors nationwide. Lynne carries on the spirit of Shirley's commitment to represent performers and advance their careers.
Laurie Hamilton
Co-Owner, Print
Laurie joined the agency in 1992. She studied fine art at the University of Vienna, Austria, Fashion Illustration at The Art Institute of Chicago, and received her BA in Advertising and Editorial Art at the University of Kansas. Specializing in print, Laurie works with her clients to cast the most talented actors and models in the Midwest. Since joining the agency, Laurie has shepherd the Children's Division from a department to a specialty. As a mother of twins who had their first job in a movie at six months old and daughter of "the force", she has impacted the job in two perspectives. Laurie continues teaching in the industry and illustrating childen's books.
Lara Freeman-Erbin
Voiceover, Accounts Manager
Lara swapped sunshine for snow when she moved from California to Chicago to attend DePaul University. She studied Communications and Media alongside Women’s and Gender Studies and simultaneously pursued a Master’s degree in Media and Cinema Studies. She was immersed in the entertainment industry, starting in A&R at a record label and bookending with O’Connor Casting Co., before joining the Shirley’s team in 2018. Lara is based in Minneapolis after transitioning to being fully remote in 2020. She loves talking about popular culture and womxn’s empowerment; Chicago will always be her second home.
Nora Manz
TV, Film, Internship Coordinator
Nora was born and raised in suburban Detroit, Michigan. Growing up loved all things dance, music, and theatre. Nora earned her Bachelor’s degree in Live and Performing Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago in 2018. During her time at CCC, Nora completed diverse internships with a non-profit, a talent agency, and a non-profit dance company. Before taking the reins of TV/Film, Nora worked as an agent’s assistant and as an assistant house manager at Steppenwolf. Outside of work you can catch Nora enjoying live theater and music, or indulging in the occasional Netflix binge with a glass of rosé in hand.
Samantha Kittelson
Theatre
Hailing from the suburbs of Illinois, Sam grew up submerged in theatre and improv comedy. She took her interest with her to the conservatory program at The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago. Since graduating with a degree in Theatre Arts, Sam has worn many hats in the Chicago theatre scene, most notably directing and producing.
Jillian Lawrence
Commercial
Jillian is a proud Chicagoan. Born in the city, she was raised in the northwest suburbs. Jillian spent her childhood singing and dancing around her house, putting on performances for any willing audience. She graduated from DePaul University with a degree in Communications and Media accompanied with a minor in Media and Cinema Studies. After graduation, Jillian got the ball rolling and interned at a non-profit organization and at Shirley Hamilton. Now Jillian has taken her place as a permanent part of the Ham Fam as the Commercial Agent! Out of the office, you can find Jill at home with her best friends watching movies or working on audio production for a variety of podcasts.
About Shirley
Born in Chicago to a young woman who found herself unable to care for a new daughter, Shirley was left on the steps of Robert Burns Hospital. The hospital staff loved Shirley and took care of her for almost 3 years - they would take often her home over the weekends. On one of those weekends, Shirley’s Doctor-host had his regular poker party, and a new couple was in attendance. They asked about the little lady running around the house. When they heard her story, they were delighted to adopt her, having no children of their own.
Ernie & Josie Hultgren were most likely a middle-income family. Ernie, a music critic, and Josie, a high-end milliner and seamstress, led comfortable lives for the times (a little bungalow in Antioch for the summers, too), but were wiped out by the stock-market crash. Modeling became a profitable path for Shirley.
In her junior year of high school, she met Grant Hamilton in chemistry class. He had to woo her a bit (away from a current boyfriend), but Grant didn’t give up, and they soon became quite the couple. After high school, Shirley went to work at Marshall Fields while still modeling. WWII broke out, and Grant enlisted in the Air Corps. They were engaged while Grant was training, and they finally married on Memorial Day Weekend in Chicago. After Grant's return from overseas, they settled at the Clovis, New Mexico Air Force Base.
Shirley and Grant then returned to Chicago, where he pursued a career in photography, and she fell into the business while working for Patricia Stevens, who owned Chicago's biggest talent agency and modeling school. Stevens, who was about to marry a colorful car dealer by the name of Earl “Mad Man” Muntz, needed someone to take over her Saturday afternoon TV show production responsibilities while she was on her honeymoon. Stevens called Shirley into her office, where she was sitting under a hair dryer, Mrs. Hamilton later recalled, to tell her she was the anointed one. Mrs. Hamilton knew nothing about TV show production, but she rose to the occasion. Soon thereafter, she was named director of the Stevens’ modeling agency - Reel Chicago.
In 1962, following an incompatible stint with another agency Talent, Inc. and coupled with the enthusiastic encouragement of her former top Steven’s clients, Shirley decided to take the plunge and found her namesake: Shirley Hamilton Talent, Inc. A precursor to the now all too familiar “home office”, Shirley operated out of her home, with Grant balancing the books. SHI’s first dedicated work space was no larger than a closet – simply a desk and a telephone within the confines of a friend’s office on Michigan Ave. Shirley’s energy and dedication to her talent and business was legendary, assigning new meaning to the phrase “work ethic.” She didn’t pack up at 5 p.m. like her Michigan Ave. advertising counterparts. She worked late into the night, calling talent from home, puffing her cigarette with audition schedules splayed. "She always wanted to be at work," Lynne has said. “Shirley always put her actors first.”
Shirley has been resting peacefully since 2011, but her legacy has not wavered. In the words of veteran agent Linda Jack, of Grossman Jack, at a time when women in authority and women business owners were a silent minority, Shirley Hamilton showed other women that they could start their own business and be successful: “Having seen what Shirley had done gave them confidence in their own abilities to try it for themselves, me being one of them.” Chicago’s own Stewart Talent’s Joan Sparks has shared: “Shirley Hamilton was the first. She paved the way for many.”
Shirley’s namesake stands as the oldest talent agency in Chicago. Her daughters Lynne and Laurie proudly co-own and operate what is now Shirley Hamilton Talent.
