Jerry Weintraub

From Wikipedia:

Weintraub was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, and raised in The Bronx, the son of Rose (Bass) and Samuel Weintraub. His father was a gem dealer. After several years at MCA, he left and formed his own personal management company. In the 1960s, he also co-founded the vocal group The Doodletown Pipers. Among the acts that Weintraub managed at this time were Joey Bishop, The Four Seasons and the singer Jane Morgan.

Before turning to films, Weintraub's largest entertainment success was as the personal manager of singer and actor John Denver whom he signed in 1970. Weintraub first saw Denver performing at a small club in Greenwich Village and liked his easy, "mountaineer's" manner. Weintraub produced a dozen television music specials starring Denver, winning an Emmy for one of them. In 1977, he produced the film Oh, God!, starring George Burns and Denver, and which became one of the best movies that year. After Denver became a major success as a singer, he bought Weintraub a Rolls-Royce as a thank-you gift. Weintraub said, "I couldn't help thinking that it wasn't too long ago that neither of us had bus fare." Denver and Weintraub's professional relationship ended acrimoniously, however.

In 1970 Weintraub convinced Elvis Presley and his manager, Col. Tom Parker, to do his first national tour, something they had not considered, as Elvis was by then a successful film star. The tour, with a modern sound system created for it, propelled Weintraub's career as a recognized concert promoter.

He next promoted a tour for Frank Sinatra in 1974, who Weintraub first put in Madison Square Garden's boxing arena. For the previous six years, Sinatra had basically retired due to the failure of his last album. Weintraub convinced him to do a tour, which led to Sinatra's "transformation from saloon singer to stadium singer," writes biographer Will Friedwald. "When Frank came out of retirement and started doing stadiums, he didn't know if he would draw," recalled guitarist Al Viola. "Weintraub deserves most of the credit (after Sinatra, that is) for pulling this off," says Friedwald.

Bob Dylan signed with Weintraub in 1978 after watching a Neil Diamond concert in Las Vegas, knowing that Weintraub managed the impressive event. He began a world tour beginning in Japan which continued through Europe and the U.S., in total performing 114 shows in front of two million people.

Weintraub formed Weintraub Entertainment Group (WEG) in February 1987 with $461 million in financing from Columbia Pictures, Cineplex Odeon and others in the form of securities, bank loans and advances. WEG also arranged a $145-million, 7-year credit line with Bank of America. WEG also signed a 20-year distribution deal with Columbia, and planned to release seven or more movies per year. In 1990, WEG was in bankruptcy and Weintraub moved to a production deal with Warner Bros. Film Asset Holding Co., a company formed by WEG's two primary bank creditors, sued Weintraub over his structuring of a sale of the "Peter Pan" story to Sony Pictures Entertainment in the fall of 1990. Weintraub and Film Assets settled in January 1992.

A television documentary film about Weintraub's life, called His Way, directed by Douglas McGrath, was broadcast on HBO in 2011.

Weintraub's producing credits included Nashville (1975), Diner (1982), The Karate Kid (1984), Happy New Year (1987), National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation (1997), The Karate Kid (2010), and the 2001 remake of Ocean's Eleven (2001), in which he founded the company JW Productions. In addition to producing Ocean's 12 (2004) and Ocean's 13 (2007), he appeared in all the Ocean films. In Ocean's 11 he is seen at a table talking to Carl Reiner and is identified in audio commentary on the DVD edition. Weintraub had a minor role in Vegas Vacation as "Gilly from Philly" a high roller casino gambler with two pals.

Weintraub's first two films as a producer were Robert Altman's Nashville and Oh, God! starring George Burns and John Denver. On a 2010 television appearance of The View, Weintraub struck a handshake deal with Whoopi Goldberg to play the next God in a future Oh, God! sequel, should a favorable script become available. Weintraub had agreed to produce a new adaptation of Tarzan for Warner Bros.

He was executive producer of HBO's series, The Brink, and HBO's Behind the Candelabra in 2013, an Emmy-winning drama about the last ten years in the life of pianist, Liberace. In 2014 he also won an Emmy as co-producer of Years of Living Dangerously, a television documentary about global warming.

Weintraub's relationship with singer and actress Jane Morgan went from professional to personal and the two were married in 1965. She was 13 years older than Jerry. She was almost 41 years old and he was 28 years old. Because of her age, she was not able to have children and they ended up adopting three daughters. Weintraub also has a son, Michael Weintraub, from his first marriage. The couple separated in the 1980s, but never divorced. For the past 20 years up until his death, however, Weintraub had been living with his girlfriend, Susie Ekins.

He was a loyal supporter of the Republican Party, and was friends with George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.Weintraub also had a strong spiritual side to him, which he once described to television host Larry King. He was a devotee of The Lubavitcher Rebbe and believed in his mystical powers.

Weintraub was also involved in various philanthropic endeavors, from aiding heath education, promoting the arts and working alongside George Clooney to end genocide in Darfur.

Weintraub died in Santa Barbara, California, on July 6, 2015, of a heart attack at the age of 77. He is survived by his wife, Jane Morgan Weintraub, and his longtime companion Susan Ekins. He also leaves behind a brother, Melvyn, four children and five grandchildren.

Following the announcement of his death, tributes were made by various celebrities and friends. "Jerry was an American original, who earned his success by the sheer force of his instinct, drive, and larger-than-life personality," said former president George H.W. Bush, a longtime friend. "He had a passion for life, and throughout the ups and downs of his prolific career it was clear just how much he loved show business."

“He was a force of nature,” said actor and director Carl Reiner. George Clooney, star of the "Ocean's" movies, said that "in the coming days there will be tributes, about our friend Jerry Weintraub. We'll laugh at his great stories, and applaud his accomplishments. And in the years to come the stories and accomplishments will get better with age, just as Jerry would have wanted it. But not today. Today our friend died."

In 1986, the National Association of Theater Owners named Jerry Weintraub the Producer of the Year. In 1991, he was named to the board of the Kennedy Center. Jerry Weintraub was one of the first independent film producers to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2007, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.

Weintraub was a major contributor to many charities, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Music Center and the Children's Museum of Los Angeles. In 1988, the American Friends of the Hebrew University gave Weintraub and his wife, Jane, the Scopus Award in gratitude for their support. He was also a major supporter of Chabad and was close with the late Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Jerry Weintraub (born September 26, 1937) is an American film producer and former chairman and CEO of United Artists. He now lives in Palm Desert, California.