Sheldon Andelson (March 5, 1931 – December 29, 1987) was a

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

administrator and a political

fund-raiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

Biography

Sheldon "Shelley" Andelson was born in the

Boyle Heights Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include: Disambiguation *Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...

area of Los Angeles, at the time a Jewish enclave of Los Angeles, and went on to have a lucrative career in law and real estate. He was the first

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

University of California Regent The Regents of the University of California (also referred to as the Board of Regents to distinguish the board from the corporation it governs of the same name) is the governing board of the University of California (UC), a state university sy ...

. In describing Andelson, the ''Los Angeles Times'' called him a "Democratic Party heavyweight, once regarded as the nation's most influential gay political figure." Andelson was nominated to the Board of Regents by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

. He survived a nasty confirmation battle and served as a University of California Regent from 1982 to 1987. He was instrumental in the appointment of one of the first openly gay judges in California, Rand Schrader.Tracy Wilkinson
Municipal Court Judge Faces Challenge of AIDS - Disease
, ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (November 25, 1991). At Andelson's urging,

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

appointed Schrader to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1980. Andelson was also a fund-raiser for Senator

Edward M. Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

and

Walter F. Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...

.Obituaries: Sheldon Andelson, Political Fund-Raiser, 56
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (January 01, 1988). Other notable accomplishments, honors and contributions include, founder and Chairman of the Bank of Los Angeles, a member of the

Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

, a founder of the

Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to: Africa * Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi Asia East Asia * Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...

, director of the ACLU Foundation, and a member of a committee of the 1984

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

held in Los Angeles. Mr. Andelson was a graduate of Stanford University and USC Law School. Andelson served as a member of the Finance Committee of the Democratic National Committee NCand spoke at the 1980 Democratic National Convention, held in New York City. Sheldon Andelson was a lead partner in the 1980s trendy Melrose Avenue restaurant "Trumps". At the time, one of Los Angeles' most popular and exclusive dining spots. Andelson was also owner of The 8709 Club Baths, a popular gay nightlife spot. The Andelson Collection at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library is named in his honor. Located in the Ethnic and Gender Studies Library, the Collection supports the teaching curriculum and research interests of faculty and students in gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and studies across the disciplines. On December 29, 1987, aged 56, Andelson died of complications related to AIDS.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andelson, Sheldon 1931 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American Jews American political fundraisers LGBT Jews LGBT people from California AIDS-related deaths in California People from Los Angeles People from Boyle Heights, Los Angeles University of California regents 20th-century LGBT people 20th-century American academics