Lew Wasserman

Lew Wasserman ( born March 15, 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio, June 3, 2002 † in Beverly Hills ) was President of the Actors Agency and the subsequent media company MCA (Music Corporation of America ). He was for decades one of the most powerful men in Hollywood.

Life

Wasserman, born in 1913 and son of a Jewish- Russian immigrants, was originally theater usher. In 1940 he built the MCA on Hollywood's most influential actor agency. The MCA has represented over the years, among others, Tony Curtis, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Errol Flynn, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, and James Stewart.

1950 Wasserman led the end of the studio system in Hollywood one, according to which actors are bound by contract to certain studios. He gave James Stewart for a 50 percent working interest in the film Winchester '73 at Universal. The film made ​​huge profit, Stewart was rich and an avalanche broke loose. In 1952, he was the first agent, the TV producer was at the same time. He produced Kojak and Miami Vice. In 1957 he bought the rights to 700 Paramount movies for $ 10 million and sold soon after their television broadcast rights for over $ 30 million. 1962 MCA merged under water leadership Mans with Universal, but at the same time had to be separated from the actor agency. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee and thus involved in the organization of the 1984 Summer Olympics.

On 29 September 1995 Aquarius received the Presidential Medal of Freedom ( "Presidential Medal of Freedom "). In October 2007, Wasserman was posthumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Family

Since 1998, diverts water Mans grandson Casey Wasserman ( born 1974 ), the " Wasserman Media Group " ( WMG ). Since the death of his grandfather, he also presides in the " Wasserman Foundation ", founded in 1952 by a Lew Wasserman and his wife Edie Wasserman ( 1916-2011 ) charitable organization.