Leo Jaffe (April 23, 1909 in New York City,

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– August 20, 1997 in New York City,

) was an American film executive. He was chairman of the board of

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 until his retirement in 1981. He is the father of film producer Stanley R. Jaffe and film agent Andrea Jaffe.

Career

The son of Lithuanian immigrants, Jaffe began working in a

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in the

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to put himself through college. While still a graduate at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, he began working in the mailroom at Columbia in the summer of 1930, spending his entire career there and working his way to the top. He became a travelling auditor and worked his way up the finance department, becoming treasurer and member of the board in 1956 and executive vice president in 1962. He ran the studio during the 1960s and 1970s becoming president in 1967 and chairman in August 1973. In 1979, Jaffe received the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

Jean Hersholt Jean Pierre Carl Buron (12 July 1886 – 2 June 1956), known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is most famous for starring on the CBS radio series '' Dr. Christian'' from 1937–1954, which later inspired a TV se ...

Award. In 1981 he retired after 51 years with the company and became chairman emeritus.

Personal life

In 1968, Jaffe received the Bronze Medallion, New York City's highest civilian honor. In 1994, a Golden Palm Star on the

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, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him. He was married three times and had three sons, Howard, Ira and Stanley and two daughters, Marie and Andrea. He is the father to producer and director Stanley R. Jaffe known for the movie Kramer vs. Kramer. Stanley went on to have two children Robert and Elizabeth Jaffe

References

External links

* 1909 births 1997 deaths Businesspeople from New York City American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American film studio executives Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winners 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-film-bio-stub