Irving H. Levin (September 8, 1921 – March 20, 1996) was an American film producer and business executive with the National General Corporation. He was also the owner of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

's Boston Celtics and San Diego Clippers.

Biography

Levin was raised in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He is of

Jewish descent ''Zera Yisrael'' ( he, זרע ישראל, , meaning "Seed fIsrael") is a legal category in Jewish law that denotes the blood descendants of Jews who, for one reason or another, are not legally of Jewish ethnicity according to religious criteria. ...

. He served as a bombardier during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

stationed in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He later moved to California where his father-in-law helped him to get a job in the film industry. Levin began his film career as the president of Filmmakers Releasing Organization, a film distribution company founded by independent producers Collier Young and

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

. When American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. decided to expand to film production in 1956, Levin was named the first president of the Am-Par Picture Corporation. AB-PT sold Levin and Harry L. Mandell AB-PT Pictures and AB-PT Distribution Corporation in May 1958 and reformed the company as Atlas Pictures Corporation. Levin and Mandell then brought on Maurice Duke and Henry F. Ehrlich to form a TV production company, Sindee Productions Inc. with its first series ''Pancho Villa'' through distributor MCA. In 1961, Levin joined National Theaters & Television, Inc. as a vice president. In 1962

Eugene V. Klein Eugene Victor Klein (January 29, 1921March 12, 1990) was an American businessman who was chairman of the board of directors and chief stockholder of National General Corporation, an insurance and entertainment company based in Los Angeles, Ca ...

restructured the company into National General Corp., where Levin served as the executive vice president from 1962–1969 and president and CEO from 1969–1972. Levin was also president of NGC's entertainment assets, which included

National General Pictures National General Corporation (NGC) was a theater chain holding company, film distribution and production company and was considered one of the "instant majors". It was in operation from 1951 to 1974. Divisions Its division National General Pictu ...

and The Chinese Theatre. In April 1972, Levin and attorney Harold A. Lipton purchased the Boston Celtics for $3.7 Million. The sale was rejected by the NBA as a result of conflict of interest concerns due to fellow National General directors

Sam Schulman Samuel Schulman (April 10, 1910 – June 12, 2003) was an American businessman from New York who was a founding owner and President of the Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association and an owner of the San Diego Chargers of the ...

and Eugene V. Klein owning the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

. Levin and Lipton were forced to sell their shares to

Robert Schmertz Robert Schmertz (November 15, 1926 – July 24, 1975) was an American real estate developer and sports franchise owner. He was owner or part-owner of two NBA franchises; the Portland Trail Blazers from 1970 through 1972, and the Boston Celtics f ...

that May for $3.95 Million with an option for the two to repurchase half of the Celtics' stock. After two years of litigation, Levin and Lipton were able exercise their option. Ten months later they purchased the remaining stock from Leisure Technology. Levin had long wanted to own a team in California, but knew that the NBA would not even consider letting him move the Celtics. In 1978, with this in mind, Levin and Lipton swapped their shares in the Celtics with John Y. Brown, Jr. and Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. for their shares in the

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division from 1970 ...

. The Braves were relocated to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, where they became the San Diego Clippers. On May 4, 1981, Levin sold the Clippers to

Donald Sterling Donald T. Sterling (born Donald Samuel Tokowitz; April 26, 1934) is an American attorney and businessman who was the owner of the San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers professional basketball franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA) fro ...

for $13.5 million.

Personal life

He divorced his first wife, Lenore, in 1971; they had three children: Donna, Lon and Sindee. His second wife, Michelle, was killed in a car accident.

Films produced by Levin

*'' Crashout'' (1955) *''

Eighteen and Anxious ''Eighteen and Anxious'' is a 1957 American drama film directed by Joe Parker and written by Katherine Eunson and Dale Eunson. The film stars William Campbell, Martha Scott, Jackie Loughery, Jim Backus, Ron Hagerthy, and Jackie Coogan. The fil ...

'' (1957) *''

Hell to Eternity ''Hell to Eternity'' is a 1960 American World War II film starring Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Vic Damone and Patricia Owens, directed by Phil Karlson. This film biopic is about the true experiences of Marine hero Pfc. Guy Gabaldon (played b ...

'' (1960) *'' Operation Thunderbolt'' (1977) *'' To Live and Die in L.A.'' (1985)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Irv 1921 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Philanthropists from Illinois Boston Celtics owners Businesspeople from Chicago Businesspeople from Los Angeles Jewish American philanthropists Jewish American film producers National Basketball Association owners 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American Jews