Marvin Mirisch
Marvin Mirisch | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | |
Occupation | Motion Picture Executive |
Spouse | Florene (nee Smuckler) Mirisch |
Marvin Mirisch (1918–2002) was an American motion picture executive.
Biography
He graduated from City College of New York in 1940 and moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
He started out selling popcorn and refreshments to Milwaukee movie theaters. With his oldest brother Irving, he started the Theater Candy Company. The company grew to serve 800 theaters in the Midwest before moving to Los Angeles in 1953.
In 1953, he joined his brothers, Harold and Walter, at Monogram Pictures, in Los Angeles, CA. He was the associate producer on "The Human Jungle"(1954) and "Arrow In The Dust"(1957). In 1957, the Mirisch brothers decided to leave Monogram and formed their own company.
The Mirisch Company produced films that received 88 Academy Award nominations and won 28. Their productions included: "Some Like It Hot"(1959), "The Horse Soldiers"(1959), "The Apartment"(1960)(Best Picture Academy Award), "The Magnificent Seven"(1960) which spawned three sequels, a television movie and a television series; "West Side Story"(1961)(Best Picture Academy Award), "The Great Escape"(1963), "The Pink Panther"(1963), "A Shot In The Dark"(1963), "Hawaii"(1966), "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming", "In The Heat Of The Night"(1967)(Best Picture Academy Award), "Midway"(1976),"Same Time, Next Year"(1978), and "The Pink Panther" TV series(1993).
He served on the boards of the "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences", the United Jewish Fund, "Temple Israel of Hollywood" and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
He was married to Florene Smuckler Mirisch for 60 years. They had 3 children; Donald, Carol and Lynn.
Mirisch was born to a Jewish family[1] on March 19, 1918 in New York City,[2][3] one of four sons born to Josephine (nee Urbach) and Max Mirisch.[4] He was the brother of Walter Mirisch and Harold Mirisch, who were also film executives, and of Irving Mirisch, who ran a company which supplied candy to movie theatres. [4] In 1953, he moved to Los Angeles to join his brothers Harold and Walter at Monogram Pictures, later known as Allied Artists International.[3] In 1957, they founded The Mirisch Company, one of the leading independent production companies.[4] He was the executive producer of the movies Romantic Comedy (1983) and Dracula (1979).[2] He was associate producer for The Human Jungle (1954) and Arrow in the Dust (1954).[2]
Personal life and death
Mirisch was married to Florene Mirisch for 60 years; they had three children:[1] Donald I. Mirisch;[5] Carol Mirisch Hartmann and Lynn Mirisch Rogo.[1] He died of a heart attack on November 17, 2002 in Los Angeles, at the age of eighty-four.[2][3][4] He was buried in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California.[3]
References
- ^ a b c Jewish Journal: "Marvin Mirisch - Mirisch Motion Picture Production Company Co-Founder, Dies at 84" November 28, 2002
- ^ a b c d imdb
- ^ a b c d FindAGrave
- ^ a b c d Douglas Martin, Marvin Mirisch, 84, Hollywood Producer of 60's, The New York Times, November 20, 2002
- ^ Los Angeles Times: "Donald I Marisch Obituary August 1, 2014