Michael Viner

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Michael Viner
Born(1944-02-27)February 27, 1944
Washington, D.C., USA
DiedAugust 8, 2009(2009-08-08) (aged 65)
Beverly Hills, California, USA
Occupation(s)Film producer, record producer, musician

Michael Ames Viner (

hip hop
recordings.

Early life

Viner was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Jeanne (née Spitzel) and Melvin Viner.

MGM.[2] He was the producer of the inaugural ball for President Richard Nixon in 1973.[3]

Record producing

Viner produced a record in 1970 called The Best of Marcel Marceao, a joke album produced for under $50 and consisting of nineteen minutes of silence followed by one minute of applause on each side of the record, purportedly recording performances by the famous

Sammy Davis, Jr. in 1972.[3]

He assembled the

L.L. Cool J and Nas, as well as Moby. Among the artists he signed at MGM Records was Debby Boone, who would have a hit in 1977 with "You Light Up My Life".[3]

Publishing and audiobooks

Viner married actress Deborah Raffin in 1974[2] (they divorced in 2005).[5] He and Raffin opened Dove Books-on-Tape in 1985 in the garage of their Coldwater Canyon home. Viner had won an $8,000 bet in a backgammon game with the author Sidney Sheldon; rather than taking the money, Viner asked Sheldon to let him publish two of his books as audiobooks. Although Viner became known for publishing sensational tabloid-style books such as You'll Never Make Love in This Town Again and Faye Resnick's book about Nicole Brown Simpson, among Dove's first successes was the audiobook of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. The company grew to become a serious competitor of the more established publishers in the audiobook business.[2][6]

After suffering some financial setbacks, Viner and Raffin sold Dove in 1997,[7] and later obtained a large legal malpractice judgment against their own lawyers relating to this transaction,[8] but after a lengthy appeals process, the judgment was overturned.[9] They founded New Millennium Entertainment, which filed for bankruptcy after a jury ordered it to pay $2.8 million in a highly publicized lawsuit with author and editor Otto Penzler.[10] In 2005 Viner established another company, Phoenix Books.[5][11] Viner sold Phoenix to Dwight D. Opperman in 2007[12] but stayed on as its president.[13] Viner died in Beverly Hills, California at age 65 on August 8, 2009, due to cancer.[2]

Appearances in Television and Film

Viner appeared in a 1970 episode of To Tell the Truth, surrounded by two imposters, each claiming to be the producer of his "The Best of Marcel Marceao" album. None of the celebrity panelists correctly guessed him to be the real Michael Viner, instead opting to vote for the two imposters to his left and right.

The 2013 documentary Sample This recounts the story of Viner and The Incredible Bongo Band.[14][15]

References

  1. ^ Adam Bernstein, "Jeanne Viner Bell, 85; Public Relations Expert", The Washington Post, May 22, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e Elaine Woo, "Michael Viner dies at 65; tabloid book publisher", Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c Michaelangelo Matos, "Remembering Michael Viner, The Man Who Recorded “Apache”", Rolling Stone, August 14, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  4. ^ Bob Boilen, "Listening To The Best Of Marcel Marceau, On His Birthday", All Songs Considered, March 22, 2012.
  5. ^ a b Michael Hiltzik, "Fiction Genre Fits Big Pharma", Los Angeles Times, October 27, 2005.
  6. ^ Bernard Weinraub, "Profile: Michael Viner and Deborah Raffin; Selling Books to a Generation That Won't Sit Still", The New York Times, February 28, 1993.
  7. ^ Scott Collins, "Dove Entertainment Founders Leave Firm", Los Angeles Times, June 12, 1997.
  8. ^ Michael Hiltzik, "It's a Safe Bet That He'll Sue in This Town Again", Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2003.
  9. ^ Kenneth Ofgang, "After Remand From Supreme Court: C.A. Rejects Bid to Reinstate Huge Legal Malpractice Judgment, Metropolitan News-Enterprise, April 26, 2004.
  10. ^ David D. Kirkpatrick, "Hollywood Publisher Seeks Bankruptcy After Losing Suit", The New York Times, September 11, 2003.
  11. ^ Jonathan Bing, "Viner rises again with Phoenix Books", Variety, June 20, 2005.
  12. ^ Diane Garrett, "Opperman acquires Phoenix", Variety, November 20, 2007.
  13. ^ "Phoenix Books' Michael Viner Dead at 65", Publishers Weekly, August 10, 2009.
  14. ^ Odie Henderson, Review of Sample This, RogerEbert.com, September 13, 2013.
  15. The Vancouver Sun
    , November 15, 2013.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Viner&oldid=1166989646"