Harold Mirisch

Harold Mirisch
Born(1907-04-05)April 5, 1907
New York City, U.S.
DiedDecember 5, 1968(1968-12-05) (aged 61)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
OccupationFilm producer
Spouse
Lottie Mandell
​
(m. 1928)​
Children2
RelativesWalter Mirisch (half-brother)
Marvin Mirisch (half-brother)
John A. Mirisch (grandson)

Harold Mirisch (March 4, 1907 – December 5, 1968) was an American film production company executive.

Early life

He was born on May 4, 1907[1] to a Jewish family[2] in New York, New York, one of two sons born to Flora (née Glasshut) and Max Mirisch.[3][4] His father emigrated from Kraków in 1891 at the age of 17, arriving in New York City where he worked as a tailor.[4] His mother was the daughter of immigrants; she died of cancer at the age of 40 and his father remarried to Josephine Frances Urbach with whom he had two sons.[4] He was the brother of Irving Mirisch and half-brother of Marvin Mirisch and Walter Mirisch.[3]

Career

At the age of 14, Mirisch worked as an office boy at Warner Brothers in New York City.[5] In 1938, at the prodding of a Warner executive, he moved to Memphis where he learned the theater management side of the business.[5][4] In 1942, he joined RKO Theaters in New York City and was in charge of booking their circuit.[5] In 1947, he moved to Los Angeles with his brothers to produce low‐budget films for Allied Artists.[5] He made a fortune in the Midwest thanks to the Theater Candy Company, which sold candies to moviegoers.[6]

He moved to California, and served as Vice President of Allied Artists, a film production company.[6] He was an uncredited executive producer on Beachhead in 1954.[1] In 1957, together with his brothers Marvin and Walter, he co-founded The Mirisch Company, one of the leading independent production companies, and served as its President.[3][7][8][9][10]

Personal life and death

In 1928, he married Lottie Mandell; they had two children, Maxine Mirisch Segal and Robert Mirisch.[4] Prior to his death on December 5, 1968, in Beverly Hills.

His grandson, John A. Mirisch, served as the mayor of Beverly Hills, California from March 2013 to March 2014.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b imdb
  2. ^ Berg, A. Scott (October 1998). Goldwyn: A Biography. ISBN 9781101497357.
  3. ^ a b c Douglas Martin, Marvin Mirisch, 84, Hollywood Producer of 60's, The New York Times, November 20, 2002
  4. ^ a b c d e Mirisch, Walter. "I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History". University of Wisconsin Press. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d New York Times: "Colleagues Cite Harold Mirisch As Movie Pioneer of the Year" November 24, 1964
  6. ^ a b Tony Curtis, The Making of Some Like It Hot: My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Classic American Movie, John Wiley & Sons, 2009 [1]
  7. ^ Tino Balio, United Artists, Volume 2, 1951–1978: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2009, p. 191 [2]
  8. ^ Gary Morris (ed.), Action!: Interviews With Directors from Classical Hollywood to Contemporary Iran, Anthem Press, 2009, p. 53 [3]
  9. ^ Nick Dawson, Being Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel, Louisville, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2009
  10. ^ Gene Phillips, Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder, Louisville, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2010, p. 253 [4]
  11. ^ John A. Mirisch's campaign website Archived 2013-04-16 at the Wayback Machine