Sydney Mark Taper (25 December 1901 – 15 December 1994) was a Polish-born British-American real estate developer, financier 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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. His 1962 gift to the Los Angeles Music Center resulted in the

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighborin ...

being named for him in 1967.

Early and personal life

Mark Taper was born on 25 December 1902 in a region of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

to Benjamin Taper, a tailor (b. 1881, Russia, d. 1963, London) and Rebecca (nee Rothfarb, b. 1882, Russia) and raised in England, where he had immigrated with his parents at a young age and would live for 36 years. His family was Jewish. Taper married Amelia Lewis (1909, London, England – 1958, Los Angeles), the daughter of Louis A. Lewis, a furrier in London, and Florence (nee Hobinstock). She was an illustrator for London ''Vogue''. The couple had three children, born in South London. Lewis died in 1958 of "acute pulmonary edema and congestion due to acute alcohol intoxication" at the family home in Beverly Hills and was buried at Hillside Memorial Park. In 1962, Taper married actress Roberta Gale (1914-2008); the marriage lasted eight months.

Career

Taper opened five shoe stores in England. In 1926, at the age of 25, he was able to retire. From 1929, he instead began successfully investing and developing innovations in real estate and house building. One of his more famous projects in the 1930s was a prestigious development he created in

Brockley Brockley is a district and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. It has been named the best area of London to live in. It is an area rich in Vi ...

, Southeast London, whereby Taper named one street Millmark Road (now Millmark Grove) in honor of his wife, (nicknamed Milly) in a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

with his own name, and another Barrydale (now Barriedale) for his young son, Barry. By the late 1930s, Taper had retired and moved his family to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, becoming an American citizen. During Southern California's postwar housing boom, Taper founded Biltmore Homes and began building suburban housing for returning soldiers in

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, Norwalk, Compton and Lakewood. In all, he built 35,000 houses for low and middle-income people as part of some of the largest housing projects in the U.S. Taper also founded the First Charter Financial Corporation of

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

, parent of American Savings and Loan. In 1949 he partnered with Louis Boyar and

Ben Weingart Ben Weingart (1888–1980) was an American real estate investor and developer, influential in the development of various areas of southern California, including Lakewood, California. A self-made man, Weingart became one of the richest men in Califo ...

to acquire 3500 acres of agricultural land near Long Beach, The group formed the Lakewood Park Company and with financing from Prudential Insurance, built 17,000 affordable homes in the new community of

Lakewood, California Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 82,496 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west, northwest and south, Bellflower on the north, Cerritos on the northeast, Cypress on t ...

. The group built the Lakewood Center in 1953, and two years later Lakewood was the largest planned city in the United States.

Philanthropy

Taper financed the first gallery for modern works at the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

as a memorial to his wife, Amelia, who died in 1958, and was a major donor to the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...

. Mark and Amelia Taper devoted much of their time to transporting hundreds of

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

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 ...

children out of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. The S. Mark Taper Foundation was established in 1952 as a family foundation, and remains active in philanthropic giving, including funding the S. Mark Taper Foundation Imaging Center at Cedars Sinai Medical Center and the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium at Benaroya Hall in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Death and legacy

Taper died suddenly from a heart attack on 15 December 1994 in his

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

, home. He was buried next to his wife in

Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery The Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California, United States. Many Jewish people from the entertainment industry are buried there. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (designed by Los Angeles ...

. As part of the 2007-2008 renovations, the auditorium of the Mark Taper Forum was named the Amelia Taper Auditorium after a $2 million gift from the S. Mark Taper Foundation.

References

External links

Mark Taper Forum websiteCity of Lakewood History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taper, Mark 1902 births 1994 deaths 20th-century British philanthropists Businesspeople from London American people of Polish-Jewish descent British people of Polish-Jewish descent American businesspeople in real estate British emigrants to the United States Jewish British philanthropists Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom American philanthropists