Seymour Marvin "Cy" Leslie (December 16, 1922 – January 6, 2008) was an American businessman, the founder of

Pickwick Records Pickwick Records was an American record label and British record distributor known for its budget album releases of sound-alike recordings, bargain bin reissues and repackagings under the brands Design, Bravo (later changing its name to Interna ...

, and the first president and founder of MGM/UA Home Entertainment Group. Pickwick Records aimed to make music more affordable, and carried such artists as

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

at various times.

MGM Home Video Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC (d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video division of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. History 1 ...

was one of the first companies to enter the home video business, which today has become the home entertainment industry including

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and other sales. He began his career by founding

Voco Records Voco (stylized as voco) is an international hotel brand owned by the InterContinental Hotels Group. Since launching in 2018, voco has opened hotels in the UK, Australia, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The name voco is derived from the L ...

, producing record greeting cards, and later children's records. He was Jewish.Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music of Lou Reed By Aidan Levy

Education

Leslie received his Bachelor's degree from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, before being deployed by the Army in

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Later, he received a business degree from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

. He also received an honorary doctorate from Hofstra University in 1974.

Family

Leslie married Barbara Miller. They had three daughters and four grandchildren.

References

Variety Magazine: MGM's Seymour 'Cy' Leslie dies

New York Sun: Cy Leslie, 85, Home Video Pioneer

Songwriters Hall of Fame

Obituary

Obituary in ''The Times'', 18 January 2008
1922 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews Harvard Business School alumni Jewish American military personnel Mandatory Palestine emigrants to the United States Syracuse University alumni United States Army personnel of World War II American people of Palestinian-Jewish descent {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub