David Oppenheim (musician)

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David Oppenheim
Born
David Jerome Oppenheim

(1922-04-13)April 13, 1922
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedNovember 14, 2007(2007-11-14) (aged 85)
Spouses
(m. 1948; div. 1957)
Ellen Adler
(m. 1957; div. 1976)
Patricia Jaffe
(m. 1987)
Children3, including Jonathan

David Jerome Oppenheim (April 13, 1922 – November 14, 2007) was an American

New York University School of the Arts
(NYU) from 1969 to 1991, which was transformed under his leadership from a collection of disparate arts programs into a major institution with courses offered in photography, cinema, musical theater, dramatic acting, and writing.

Early years

Oppenheim was born in Detroit in 1922 to Louis Oppenheim and Julia Nurko Oppenheim. His father owned a department store.[1] He had one sibling, a brother, Stanley.[1] His family was Jewish.[2] At the age of thirteen, upon the death of his father,[3] he and his family relocated to New York City, where he spent most of his life. He began playing the clarinet after this move and by age 20 was considered to be an accomplished player.[citation needed] He attended Juilliard and graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 1943.[1] During World War II he served as an anti-tank gunner.[3]

Career

Prades Festival,[6] and both the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115,[7] and the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, K. 581,[8] with the Budapest String Quartet in 1959. Also in 1955, he worked with Stravinsky who conducted his "Story of a Soldier". The two became friends,[9] and Oppenheim later produced several of his works and documentaries.[10]

On January 11, 1955, David Oppenheim attended Canadian pianist Glenn Gould's New York debut. He was so impressed with the performance that he contacted his manager at Columbia Records, who then negotiated a contract with Gould.[11]

In the 1960s, he worked for the television production company under

Omnibus TV series, and worked as a writer and producer for CBS from 1962 until 1967.[1] In 1964, Oppenheim wrote, produced and directed Casals at 88, a documentary about the cellist, which garnered the Prix Italia.[1]

Oppenheim became the second dean of the

Laurence and Preston, which helped centralize the school in one location, a 12-story building at 721 Broadway.[1][3]

Personal life

As a young man in New York in the early 1940s, Oppenheim was a close friend and sometime lover of Leonard Bernstein. Later, Oppenheim was married three times.

His first marriage was to actress Judy Holliday, from 1948 to 1957. Oppenheim struggled with his sexual orientation; Bernstein, a mutual friend, suggested that Oppenheim marry Holliday as a beard. (In 1943, Bernstein wrote in a letter to Oppenheim, then in the U.S. Army, that he had thought of marrying Holliday himself.)[13] Oppenheim and Holliday had a son, Jonathan, who became a film editor[14] whose work includes Paris Is Burning, Children Underground, and Arguing the World.

Oppenheim's second marriage (1957–76) was to Ellen Adler, daughter of Stella Adler. They had a daughter, Sara, and a son, Thomas,[3] who became president and artistic director of Stella Adler Studio of Acting.[15] He married Patricia Jaffe in 1987.

Oppenheim died in New York City in 2007.[1]

In popular culture

Oppenheim was portrayed by Matt Bomer in Bradley Cooper's 2023 film Maestro.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Hevesi, Dennis (3 December 2007). "David Oppenheim, 85, Dean of N.Y.U. Arts". The New York Times. p. 7.
  2. ^ https://www.jewishtampa.com/jews-in-the-news/leonard-bernstein-felicia-cohn-montealegre-and-david-oppenheim
  3. ^ a b c d e Miller, Stephen (23 November 2007). "David Oppenheim, Dean of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, 85". The New York Sun. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  4. . Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  5. . Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  6. ^ Music & Arts CD-689
  7. ^ CBS MPK-45553
  8. ^ Sony SM3K-46527
  9. . Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  10. . Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  11. ^ "JS Bach: Goldberg Variations | Classical-Music.com". www.classical-music.com. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  12. ^ a b "Guide to the Records of the Tisch School of the Arts 1956-1981: Historical/Biographical Note". New York University. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  13. .
  14. . Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  15. . Retrieved 17 February 2013.