Sidney Sheinberg

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Sidney Sheinberg
Born(1935-01-14)January 14, 1935
Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
DiedMarch 7, 2019(2019-03-07) (aged 84)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Other namesSid Sheinberg
Alma materColumbia University (B.A., J.D)
Occupation(s)Hollywood studio head, Lawyer President of
Revue Productions
Known forDiscovering Steven Spielberg
Responsible for:
Jaws
Schindler's List
Jurassic Park
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Board member ofSee Boards and Honors
Spouse
​
(m. 1956)​
Children2
AwardsSee "Boards and Honors"

Sidney Jay Sheinberg (January 14, 1935 – March 7, 2019) was an American businessman, lawyer and entertainment executive. He served as president and CEO of

Universal Studios for over 20 years.[1]

Early life and education

Sheinberg, the son of

John Jay Award. [citation needed
]

Career

In the summer of 1958, Sheinberg arrived in California where he accepted a teaching position at

MCA Inc., and the predecessor of Universal Television, and began his career in the entertainment industry.[6] In 1962, Sheinberg was involved in MCA's acquisition of Universal.[7]

Sheinberg is credited with discovering director Steven Spielberg. In the late 1960s, Sheinberg had seen Spielberg's first short film, Amblin, and signed the director, then 20, to a 7-year contract to the MCA/Universal Television in 1968.[8][9] As recounted by Spielberg on numerous occasions, Sheinberg famously told him, "a lot of people will stick with you in success; I'll stick with you in failure."[10]

In 1971, Sheinberg became president of Universal Television.[7]

In June 1973, Sheinberg was elected president and chief operating officer of MCA, Inc. and Universal Studios, serving alongside Lew Wasserman. Having the benefit of being guided by Lew Wasserman, Sheinberg acknowledged that an essential part of being a mentor is having confidence in the people you're guiding and mentoring. Together they transformed Universal from a second-string studio, dependent on its television productions, into a major player: by July 1995, when Wasserman stepped down as chairman and Sheinberg formed an independent entertainment company, they "had turned MCA into a nearly $5 billion entertainment conglomerate."[11]

Under Sheinberg's leadership, Universal[12] released what were, at the time of each of their releases, the highest-grossing films of each of the last three decades of the twentieth century. All three films were Universal/Spielberg projects, beginning with 1975's Jaws, 1982's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and concluding with 1993's Jurassic Park.

During pre-production, Jaws was always on thin ice. Sheinberg attached Spielberg to the project and despite many headwinds, pushed for the picture to be released. He hired his wife to appear in the film.[7] When 1975's Jaws ran over budget, Sheinberg had Spielberg's back—what skeptics dismissed as an overpriced B-movie became a horror classic that defined the new summer-blockbuster genre. (The $471 million it collected worldwide would be more than $1.9 billion today.)[13]

Other high-performing films credited to him are

Back to the Future (1985). Sheinberg famously wanted to change the name from "Back to the Future" to "Space Man From Pluto" despite the film having nothing to do with outer space, spacemen, or the dwarf planet Pluto.[14]

In 1982,

Leopold Pfefferberg in Los Angeles in 1980. Sheinberg sent director Spielberg a copy of the book along with a New York Times review. Sheinberg greenlit the film on condition that Spielberg made Jurassic Park first. Spielberg later said, "He knew that once I had directed Schindler I wouldn't be able to do Jurassic Park." The picture was assigned a small budget of $22 million, as Holocaust films are not usually profitable. Spielberg forwent a salary for the film, calling it "blood money", and believed the film would flop. The film was a box office success, bringing in over $320 million and is considered a historic motion picture that poignantly captured the Holocaust.[13]

Sheinberg saw significant opportunity in the music industry and led MCA Music Entertainment's (later renamed Universal Music Group) acquisition of Motown[15] in 1988 for $61 million and Geffen Records in 1990[16] for $550 million.

In 1982, Sheinberg was quoted saying, "You'd better start saving money to pay your attorney's fees, I view litigation as a profit center" during a meeting to get

Donkey Kong franchise. Later when Universal sued Nintendo, this quote was brought up in court. Nintendo was found non-infringing, and it was also revealed that Universal knew King Kong was in the public domain all along.[17] (See also Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.
)

In 1984, as part of MCA's potential acquisition of The Walt Disney Company, Sheinberg agreed to vacate his role as MCA President in order to allow Disney CEO Ron W. Miller to assume the role. Despite coming close to actually happening, however, Wasserman strongly disagreed and said that Sheinberg should stay as MCA President, causing the deal to collapse entirely.[18]

His battle with Terry Gilliam over the final cut of the movie Brazil was the subject of a book and documentary entitled The Battle of Brazil.[19]

In 1990, Sheinberg and

Matsushita Electric
in cash and securities.

Sheinberg departed Universal in July 1995, following the takeover of the studio by the Seagram Company.[20] He produced several feature films through his production company The Bubble Factory over the decade that followed.

Boards and honors

Sheinberg served on the National Board of the

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for his life's work in civil rights and inclusive support of the LGBT community.[22][23]

He received Columbia College's

John Jay Award in 1981 for distinguished professional achievement, the American Jewish Committee's Human Relations Award in 1982, the National Conference of Christians and Jews Humanitarian Award in 1983, and Pioneer Of The Year Award in 1984 from the Motion Picture Pioneers, as well as the rank of Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
in 1984 bestowed by the French government.

In 1987, he received the

American Academy of Achievement in 1994 and the GLAAD Media Award
in 1996.

Sheinberg and his wife jointly received the 1995 Simon Wiesenthal Center's Humanitarian Award.[25] In 2008, he received the Mike Farrell Human Rights Award from Death Penalty Focus.[26]

Sheinberg Place (a street on the Universal Studios lot in Los Angeles), was dedicated in his honor February 4, 2008, at a ceremony honoring the former studio chief. David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg were among those attending.[27]

Personal life

Sheinberg married actress Lorraine Gary in 1956. Together, they had two sons, William and Jonathan, with whom he co-founded The Bubble Factory in 1995.[28]

Death

Sidney Sheinberg died in Beverly Hills, California, on March 7, 2019, at the age of 84 from Parkinson's disease.[29]

See also

Further information: Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.

References

  1. ^ Natale, Richard (March 7, 2019). "Sidney Sheinberg, MCA/Universal Exec Who Nurtured Steven Spielberg, Dies at 84". Obituaries. Variety. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  2. ISBN 0813170044
    . Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  3. ^ New York Times: "NOW LAWYERS ARE HOLLYWOOD SUPERSTARS" by Aljean Harmetz" January 11, 1987
  4. ^ "Archives". Los Angeles Times. August 12, 1987.
  5. ^ "Sidney Sheinberg, Mogul Behind Universal and Spielberg, Dies at 84". June 7, 2019.
  6. ^ a b City of Dreams, page 173
  7. ^
    Daily Variety
    (Universal Pictures Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Issue ed.). February 6, 1990. p. 20.
  8. ^ "The New York Times: Best Pictures". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  9. ^ Higgins, Bill (December 16, 2010). "Steven Spielberg and Sidney Sheinberg". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  10. ^ "Steven Spielberg and Sidney Sheinberg". The Hollywood Reporter. December 16, 2010.
  11. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  12. ^ "MCA paid its president about $4.5 million in 1985". LA Times. March 26, 1986. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  13. ^ a b "Steven Spielberg and Sidney Sheinberg". The Hollywood Reporter. December 16, 2010.
  14. ISBN 9781604539004
    . Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  15. ISSN 0458-3035
    . Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  16. ISSN 0458-3035
    . Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  17. ^ "Universal vs. Nintendo Case | the Gaming Historian". thegaminghistorian.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  18. ISBN 0-8129-7217-1
    .
  19. ISBN 0-517-56538-2
    .
  20. ^ Weinraub, Bernard (July 12, 1995). "For MCA and Hollywood, a Generational Shift". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  21. ^ Cieply, Michael (April 10, 2011). "It Came Out of the Viral Media Swamp". Media Decoder. The NY Times. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  22. ^ "No on Prop 8 Ad HIts California Airwaves". The Bilerico Project. September 22, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  23. ^ "Los Angeles Leadership Awards 2008". National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. September 22, 2008. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  24. ^ andy1 (February 13, 2017). "DeWitt Carter Reddick Award". Moody College of Communication. Retrieved March 10, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ "Humanitarian: Sheinbergs to Receive Award Sunday". LA Times. January 12, 1995. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  26. ^ "Honorees (1996 - 2023)". Death Penalty FOCUS. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  27. ^ "Steven Spielberg's mentor has street named for him". The Economic Times. February 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  28. ISSN 0890-1759
    .
  29. ^ Richard Natale (March 8, 2019). "Sidney Sheinberg, MCA/Universal Exec Who Nurtured Steven Spielberg, Dies at 84". Variety. Retrieved March 8, 2019.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sidney_Sheinberg&oldid=1218983211"