Roy Valentine Titus

Roy V. Titus, 79, Cosmetics Executive And Philanthropist By MICHEL MARRIOTT Published: April 17, 1989

Roy Valentine Titus, a New York City philanthropist and former chairman of the Helena Rubinstein cosmetics empire, died of complications from diabetes yesterday at the Rusk Institute of the New York University Medical Center. He was 79 years old and lived in Manhattan.

Mr. Titus, who was born in London, was the elder of Mrs. Rubinstein's two sons by her first husband, Edward W. Titus, publisher of the At the Sign of the Black Manikin Press in Paris.

Mr. Titus moved with his family from Europe to the United States in 1914. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Oxford in 1932 and a degree from the Harvard School of Business Administration in 1934.

The next year he joined a British affiliate of the cosmetics company, which his mother had founded in the early 1900's, and served as an executive of the company in New York until his retirement in 1974. In World War II, Mr. Titus worked for two and a half years in the Office of Strategic Services. Film Buff and Bridge Player

Much of what the public knows of Mr. Titus, a man said to have had a sharp intellect and a keen sense of humor, came by way of his frequent and vigorous support of civic and charitable causes. He was a chairman of the Helena Rubinstein Foundation, served on the boards of the Children's Blood Foundation and the Board of Governors of the Tel Aviv Museum and was a trustee of the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Union-Industry Pension Fund. He also was an avid bridge player.

Mr. Titus, a film buff and once the vice president of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, gave $1 million to the Museum of Modern Art in 1976. The money was used to further endow the museum and to renovate its film auditorium, since divided and named the Roy and Niuta Titus Theatres. At the time of his gift, he said the museum unites the best of our aspirations with what is most noble about New York.

Mr. Titus is survived by his wife, Niuta; a daughter from a previous marriage, Helena R. Titus of Los Angeles; a stepson, Louis Slesin of New York City; a stepdaughter, Suzanne Slesin Steinberg of New York City, and two grandchildren.

photo of Roy V. Titus (NYT)