Harold Mirisch
| Harold Mirisch | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 4, 1907 New York, New York |
| Died |
December 5, 1968 (age 61) Beverly Hills, California |
| Occupation | Motion Picture Executive |
| Spouse(s) | Lottie (nee Mandell) Mirisch |
Harold Mirisch (1907–1968) was an American motion picture executive.
Biography
Early life
He was born on May 4, 1907 in New York, New York.[1] He was the brother of Irving Mirisch, Marvin Mirisch and Walter Mirisch.[2] His father was Max Mirisch and his mother was Flora Glasshut Mirisch and he was the stepson of Josephine Urbach Mirisch.
Career
At the age of 14, Mirisch worked as an office boy at Warner Brothers in New York City.[3] In 1928, at the age of 21, he married Lottie Mandell and they left New York to live in Memphis, Tennessee, where he managed the Warner Theatre. Later, he rose in the Warner Brothers ranks, finally managing their circuit of theaters, headquartered in in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[3] In 1942, he joined R.K.O. Theaters in New York City and was in charge of buying and booking films for their entire national circuit.[3] In 1947, he moved to Los Angeles and joined his brother, Walter, at Allied Artists Pictures, a film production company, where he served as Vice President.[4][3] He raised his children, Maxine Mirisch Segal and Robert Mirisch in Los Angeles. In 1957, he left Allied Artists and together with his brothers, Walter and Marvin, he co-founded The Mirisch Company, one of the leading independent production companies of its time and served as its Vice President, for the remainder of his life.[2][5][6][7][8] The Mirisch Company produced "The Magnificent Seven", "Some Like It Hot", "The Horse Soldiers", "The Apartment" (Best Picture Academy Award, 1960), "West Side Story"(Best Picture Academy Award, 1961), "The Great Escape", "The Pink Panther", "A Shot In The Dark", "Hawaii", "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming", "The Thomas Crown Affair", "In The Heat Of The Night"(Best Picture Academy Award, 1967).[9]
His legacy is the films of The Mirisch Company, his 2 children, his 5 grandchildren and his great grandchild.
Death
Prior to his death on December 5, 1968, in Beverly Hills, Mirisch lived in Palm Springs, California.[1][5][10]
References
- 1 2 imdb
- 1 2 Douglas Martin, Marvin Mirisch, 84, Hollywood Producer of 60's, The New York Times, November 20, 2002
- 1 2 3 4 New York Times: "Colleagues Cite Harold Mirisch As Movie Pioneer of the Year" November 24, 1964
- ↑ Tony Curtis, The Making of Some Like It Hot: My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Classic American Movie, John Wiley & Sons, 2009
- 1 2 Tino Balio, United Artists, Volume 2, 1951–1978: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2009, p. 191
- ↑ Gary Morris (ed.), Action!: Interviews With Directors from Classical Hollywood to Contemporary Iran, Anthem Press, 2009, p. 53
- ↑ Nick Dawson, Being Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel, Louisville, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2009
- ↑ Gene Phillips, Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder, Louisville, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2010, p. 253
- ↑ Walter Mirisch, "I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History", University of Wisconsin, Press 2008
- ↑ Meeks, Eric G. (2012). The Best Guide Ever to Palm Springs Celebrity Homes. Horatio Limburger Oglethorpe. p. 73. ISBN 978-1479328598.