Aaron Russo
| Aaron Russo | |
|---|---|
 Russo promoting his film America: Freedom to Fascism |
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| Born | February 14, 1943 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 2007 (aged 64) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Known for | Music Manager, Film producer, libertarian politician and activist |
| Religion | Judaism[citation needed] |
Aaron Russo (February 14, 1943 - August 24, 2007) was an American entertainment businessman, film producer and director, and political activist. He was best-known for producing such movies as Trading Places, Wise Guys, and The Rose. Later in life, he created various Libertarian-leaning political documentaries including Mad as Hell and America: Freedom to Fascism. After a six-year battle with bladder cancer, Russo died on August 24, 2007.
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[edit] Early life
Aaron Russo was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1943. Growing up on Long Island, Russo worked for his family's undergarment business.
[edit] Entertainment career
In April 1968, Russo opened the nightclub Kinetic Playground in Chicago, Illinois, originally naming it the Electric Theater. He booked numerous prominent rock groups and musicians at the club such as The Grateful Dead, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Rotary Connection, and The Who.
In addition to owning his own nightclub, Russo managed several musical acts throughout the 1970s including The Manhattan Transfer and Bette Midler.[1]
Russo then moved into producing and directing movies, six of them receiving Academy Award nominations and two receiving Golden Globe Award nominations.[2] His final film would be America: Freedom to Fascism, a political documentary critical of the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve System and warning about the coming of the New World Order.
[edit] Political career
Russo became involved in political issues in the early-1990s when he produced and starred in the documentary entitled Mad As Hell in which he criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the federal government's War on Drugs, the concept of a National Identity Card, and government regulation of alternative medicine.[citation needed]
In 1998, Russo took his political interests to a higher level, running for governor of the state of Nevada as a Republican. Placing second in the Republican primary with 26% of the vote to candidate Kenny Guinn, Russo later endorsed the Democratic nominee, then-Las Vegas mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who would eventually lose to Republican nominee Kenny Guinn.[citation needed] Russo was planning to run again for Nevada governor in 2002 as either an independent or Libertarian but was sidelined by cancer.
In January 2004, Russo declared his candidacy for the President of the United States initially as an independent but then as a Libertarian. At the Libertarian National Convention in May 2004, Russo received 258 votes to Michael Badnarik's 256 votes and Gary Nolan's 246 votes, short of the majority required to receive the presidential nomination. Russo would eventually lose the nomination on the convention's third and final ballot to Badnarik by a vote of 423-344.
On January 14, 2007, Russo announced his full support for US Congressman Ron Paul's candidacy for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.[3]
Later in 2007, Russo created the political grassroots organization, Restore the Republic (restoretherepublic.com), to fulfill the political ambitions laid out in his final movie documentary, America: Freedom to Fascism. Regarding the organization, Russo said his goal was to "try and get the word out to the public about what's happening to America -- and give them an opportunity to try to change things".
[edit] Controversial Views
A few years before his death, in an interview with Alex Jones, Aaron Russo expressed a variety of controversial views regarding 9/11 and the influence of the Rockefeller empire on economy, politics and the global social community. Russo mentioned a variety of private and personal conversations with Nick Rockefeller in which, according to Russo, Rockefeller revealed details regarding the goals of the so entitled global elite, with further mentioning of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Bilderberg Group.[4]
[edit] Death
On August 24, 2007, Russo died at the age of 64 of bladder cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Mahoney, John C. (November 1979). "Bette Midler in "The Rose"". Bette on the Boards. http://www.betteontheboards.com/boards/magazine-20.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- ^ "Aaron Russo". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/member/28213. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
- ^ Wile, Anthony (January 15, 2007). "Ron Paul for Pres-Today's High Alert". Free Market News Network. http://www.freemarketnews.com/Analysis/134/6746/high%20alert.asp?nid=6746&wid=134&pv=1. Retrieved 2007-08-24.[dead link]
- ^ "Rockefeller Admitted Elite Goal of Microchipped Population". http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1263677258215075609.
- ^ Former Bette Midler manager and film producer dies at 64 San Jose Mercury News. 25 August 2007.
[edit] External links
- America: Freedom to Fascism, Russo's last film
- Visit Aaron Russo' Virtual Memorial
- Aaron Russo at the Internet Movie Database
- 9/11 conspiracy theorists
- American activists
- American entertainment industry businesspeople
- American documentary filmmakers
- American film producers
- Jewish American politicians
- People from Brooklyn
- People from Long Island
- Sephardi Jews
- People from the Las Vegas metropolitan area
- 1943 births
- 2007 deaths
- Nevada Libertarians
