Husband, wife pool talents in drama

LOS ANGELES — Kelly Lynch has something more precious than an Oscar: a Hollywood marriage that has lasted 20 years.

That rare accomplishment pays off in Magic City, a new TV drama created by her husband, Mitch Glazer, about what goes on behind the scenes of a swank hotel in late 1950s Miami.

In addition to securing a juicy role as a wealthy heiress, Lynch served as an inspiration for every character, from Ike Evans (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), an ambitious hotel owner who teams up with criminals to stop his employees from unionizing, to Ben “the Butcher” Diamond (Danny Huston), a mobster so heartless that he shoots the family’s barking dog for interrupting a phone call.

“I’m his muse,” said Lynch, 53, sipping tea in a hotel lounge. “You write what you know, and who does Mitch know better than me? I mean, it’s the highest compliment you can make.”

Glazer, a 58-year-old who has written screenplays for Great Expectations, Scrooged and The Recruit, has been developing the series, premiering tonight on Starz, for almost half of their wedded life. It’s based largely on his childhood growing up as a cabana boy in Miami.

“Reading the scripts was like getting a book that you don’t want to put down,” Huston said. “In the end, that’s really what enticed me — this kaleidoscope of cultures and characters that are brought together in this hotel.”

Lynch appears to be a minor character — she doesn’t pop up until the second episode — but she played many roles behind the scenes, from advising Glazer on the scripts to sitting in on the editing.

Their matchmaker was noted Hollywood agent Sue Mengers. Lynch was having lunch in Beverly Hills when Mengers came over to her table with Glazer.

“Mitch always says it’s the best thing an agent has ever done for him,” Lynch said.

Shortly after getting married, the two found themselves working together on Three of Hearts (1993), a three-way romance in which Lynch co-starred with William Baldwin and Sherilyn Fenn. Glazer was called in to rewrite the script.

When they’re on the set together, Lynch insists on being treated like anyone else. That includes going through his assistant when she has a question.

“I want him to feel that if he has to make a tough decision that’s best for the show,” she said, “that he’s not making it based on the fact that I’m married to him.”