Alan James Hirschfield (October 10, 1935 – January 15, 2015) was an American

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

executive and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. Hirschfield served as the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

from 1973 to 1978 and the chairman of

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

from 1982 until 1986. Outside of the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

, Hirschfield helped

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

establish

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

in the 1970s.

Early life and education

Hirschfield was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on October 10, 1935, to Norman and Betty Hirschfield. The family moved to

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

when he was three-years old, where his father worked for

Allen & Company Allen & Company LLC is an American privately held boutique investment bank based at 711 Fifth Avenue, New York. The firm specializes in real estate, technology, media and entertainment. History Founded in 1922 by Charles Robert Allen, Jr., he ...

's natural gas operations. Hirschfield received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Career

After school, Hirschfield went to work for Allen & Company (he was a close friend with its founder Charles Allen Jr.) and after Allen & Company took a financial stake in the film studio

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, Hirschfield was appointed financial vice president. In 1973, again after Allen & Co took a financial stake in

, Hirschfield was appointed CEO serving in that position from 1973 to 1978. In 1978, Hirschfield was forced out of Columbia Pictures after being pressured by members of the board of directors, chiefly Herb Allen, into the disastrous reinstating of

David Begelman David Begelman (August 26, 1921 – August 7, 1995) was an American film producer, film executive and talent agent who was involved in a studio embezzlement scandal in the 1970s. Life and career Begelman was born to a Jewish family in New Yor ...

, a studio executive who had embezzled $61,000 from Columbia, despite being vehemently against it. In 1981, Hirschfield was hired by

Marvin Davis Marvin H. Davis (August 31, 1925 – September 25, 2004) was an American industrialist. He made his fortunes as the chair of Davis Petroleum and at one time owned 20th Century Fox, the Pebble Beach Corporation, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and the ...

to be the chairman of

; he resigned in 1984 and was replaced by

Barry Diller Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia Group and founded the Fox Broadcasting Company with Rupert Murdoch and USA Broadcasting. Diller was ind ...

. From 1990 to 1992, Alan Hirschfield served as a co-CEO and

investment banker Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by unde ...

for the former

Financial News Network The Financial News Network (FNN) was an American financial and business news television network launched on November 30, 1981. The network aimed to broadcast programming nationwide, five days a week, for seven hours a day on 13 stations in an ...

. He was also the co-CEO of the Data Broadcasting Corp from 1992 to 2000. The Begelman embezzlement and its aftermath were the subject of the best-selling 1982 non-fiction book ''Indecent Exposure'' by David McClintick. In 1992, he opposed his friend, attorney

Gerry Spence Gerald Leonard Spence (born January 8, 1929) is a semi-retired American trial lawyer and author. He is a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame and is the founder of the Trial Lawyers College. Spence has never lost a criminal trial before a jur ...

's decision to defend Randy Weaver on charges following the Ruby Ridge siege.

Personal life and death

In 1962, Hirschfield married Berte Schindelheim; they had three children: Scott Hirschfield; Marc Hirschfield; and Laura Hirschfield. Hirschfield died from natural causes at his home in Wilson, Wyoming, on January 15, 2015, at the age of 79. Hirschfield was also a prolific collector of

Native American art The visual arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present. These include works from South America and North America, which in ...

. The collection includes items from a variety of tribes and cultures from the Plains and

Plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

regions as well as from the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

and

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

. The 2012 publication, ''Living with American Indian Art: The Hirschfield Collection'', provides an in depth examination of the collection and its history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirschfield, Alan 2015 deaths American film studio executives American television executives American philanthropists Columbia Pictures people Presidents of Columbia Pictures 20th Century Studios people Harvard Business School alumni University of Oklahoma alumni People from Wilson, Wyoming Businesspeople from Oklahoma City 1935 births