Irving H. Levin (September 8, 1921 – March 20, 1996) was an American film producer and business executive with the

National General Corporation 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 ...

. He was also the owner of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

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 = List of sovereign states, Count ...

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

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 ...

. 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. 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 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 and The Chinese Theatre. In April 1972, Levin and attorney Harold A. Lipton purchased the

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 and Eugene V. Klein owning the Seattle SuperSonics. 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 ...

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 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 States ...

, where they became the San Diego Clippers. On May 4, 1981, Levin sold the Clippers to Donald Sterling 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'' (1957) *'' Hell to Eternity'' (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