Sidney Jay Sheinberg (January 14, 1935 – March 7, 2019) was an American businessman, lawyer and entertainment executive. He served as president and CEO of MCA Inc. and

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

for over 40 years.

Early life and education

Sheinberg, the son of

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 ...

immigrants, a Ukrainian mother, Tillie (Grossman), and a Polish father, Harry Sheinberg, grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas where he was born on January 14, 1935. In 1955, Sheinberg graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and subsequently attended

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

, as both a Harlan Fiske Stone and James Kent Scholar, where he obtained his JD.City of Dreams, page 173 Sheinberg was a recipient of

's highest honors awarded to alumni: the Medal of Excellence and the John Jay Award.

Career

In the summer of 1958, Sheinberg arrived in California, where he accepted a teaching position at

UCLA School of Law The University of California, Los Angeles School of Law (commonly known as UCLA School of Law or UCLA Law) is the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles. History Founded in 1949, the UCLA School of Law is the third oldest of t ...

. In 1959 while awaiting the results of his California Bar Examination, he joined the legal department of Revue Productions, the former television subsidiary of MCA Inc., and the predecessor of

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

, and began his career in the entertainment industry. In 1962, Sheinberg was involved in MCA's acquisition of Universal. Sheinberg is credited with discovering director

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

. In the late 1960s, Sheinberg had seen Spielberg's first short film, '' Amblin'', and signed the director, then 20, to a 7-year contract to the MCA/Universal Television in 1968. As recounted by Spielberg on numerous occasions, Sheinberg told him, "a lot of people will stick with you in success; I'll stick with you in failure." In 1971, Sheinberg became president of Universal Television. In June 1973, Sheinberg was elected president and chief operating officer of MCA, Inc. and Universal Pictures, serving alongside

Lew Wasserman Lewis Robert Wasserman (March 22, 1913 – June 3, 2002) was an American businessman and talent agent, described as "the last of the legendary movie moguls" and "arguably the most powerful and influential Hollywood titan in the four decades afte ...

. Having the benefit of being guided by

, Sheinberg acknowledged that an essential part of being a mentor is having confidence in the people you're guiding and mentoring. Together they transformed Universal from a second-string studio, dependent on its television productions, into a major player: by July 1995, when Wasserman stepped down as chairman and Sheinberg formed an independent entertainment company, they "had turned MCA into a nearly $5 billion entertainment conglomerate." Under Sheinberg's leadership, Universal released what were, at the time of each of their releases, the highest-grossing films of each of the last three decades of the twentieth century. All three films were Universal/Spielberg projects, beginning with 1975's '' Jaws'', 1982's ''

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film, science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott Taylor, Elliott, a boy w ...

'' and concluding with 1993's ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...

''. During pre-production, ''Jaws'' was always on thin ice. Sheinberg attached Spielberg to the project and despite many headwinds, pushed for the picture to be released. He hired his wife to appear in the film. When 1975's ''Jaws'' ran over budget, Sheinberg had Spielberg's back—what skeptics dismissed as an overpriced B-movie became a horror classic that defined the new summer-blockbuster genre. (The $471 million it collected worldwide would be more than $1.9 billion today.) Other high-performing films credited to him are ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...

'' (1993) and ''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...

'' (1985). Sheinberg wanted to change the name from "Back to the Future" to "Space Man From Pluto" despite the film having nothing to do with outer space, spacemen, or the dwarf planet Pluto. In 1982,

Thomas Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his historical fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler' ...

published his historical novel ''

Schindler's Ark ''Schindler's Ark'' is a historical fiction published in 1982 by the Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. It is based on the fictionalized story of the historical figure, Oskar Schindler. The United States edition of the book was titled ''Schin ...

'', which he wrote after a chance meeting with Leopold Pfefferberg in Los Angeles in 1980. Sheinberg sent director Spielberg a copy of the book along with a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' review. Sheinberg greenlit the film on condition that Spielberg made ''

'' first. Spielberg later said, "He knew that once I had directed ''Schindler'' I wouldn't be able to do ''Jurassic Park''." The picture was assigned a small budget of $22 million, as Holocaust films are not usually profitable. Spielberg donated his salary and all residuals to his Shoah Foundation, saying that to profit personally from the film would be tantamount to blood money. The director had little hope for the profitability of the film and believed it would flop. The film was a box office success, bringing in over $320 million and is considered a historic motion picture that poignantly captured the Holocaust. Sheinberg saw significant opportunity in the music industry and led MCA Music Entertainment's (later renamed

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

) acquisition of

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

in 1988 for $61 million and

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

in 1990 for $550 million. He led MCA's expansion into music, and under Sheinberg's leadership, the music division grew significantly, becoming a major industry force alongside its film and television businesses. Through his development of the music division and strategic acquisitions, he spearheaded the rise of what is now Universal Music Group (UMG). In 1982, Sheinberg was quoted saying, "You'd better start saving money to pay your attorney's fees, I view litigation as a profit center" during a meeting to get

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

to pay Universal royalties for Nintendo's ''

Donkey Kong is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. It follows the adventures of Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong, a large, powerful gorilla, and other members of the List of Don ...

'' franchise. Later when Universal sued Nintendo, this quote was brought up in court. Nintendo was found non-infringing, and it was also revealed that Universal knew ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'' was in the public domain all along. (See also ''

Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. ''Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.'' was a 1983 legal case heard by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by Judge Robert W. Sweet. In their complaint, Universal Studios alleged that Nintendo's ...

)'' In 1984, as part of MCA's potential acquisition of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

, Sheinberg agreed to vacate his role as MCA President in order to allow Disney CEO Ron W. Miller to assume the role. Despite coming close to actually happening, however, Wasserman strongly disagreed and said that Sheinberg should stay as MCA President, causing the deal to collapse entirely. His battle with

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

over the final cut of the movie ''

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

'' was the subject of a book and documentary entitled ''The Battle of Brazil''. In 1990, Sheinberg and

negotiated a $6.59 billion sale of MCA and Universal to Japan's Matsushita Electric in cash and securities. Sheinberg departed Universal in July 1995, following the takeover of the studio by the

Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. (which trade name, traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational beverage and during the last few years of its existence, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. ...

Company. He produced several feature films through his production company The Bubble Factory over the decade that followed.

Boards and honors

Sheinberg served on the National Board of the

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of

Pitzer College Pitzer College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was founded in 1963 as a women's college in the Claremont Colleges consortium and became coeducational in 1970. Pitzer enrolls approximately 1000 students. Pitzer off ...

(one of the Claremont group of colleges), the Board of The

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

, the Board of Research To Prevent Blindness and the Board of Trustees of the

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating antisemitism, tolerance educati ...

. He was the vice chairman of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

and the co-founder of the Children's Action Network. He was honored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for his life's work in civil rights and inclusive support of the

LGBT community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...

. He received Columbia College's John Jay Award in 1981 for distinguished professional achievement, the American Jewish Committee's Human Relations Award in 1982, the National Conference of Christians and Jews Humanitarian Award in 1983, and Pioneer Of The Year Award in 1984 from the Motion Picture Pioneers, as well as the rank of ''Chevalier'' of the in 1984 bestowed by the French government. In 1987, he received the DeWitt Carter Reddick Award at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

in Austin, and in 1989 he was named a Lifetime Honorary Member of the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

for his decades of service on the DGA-AMPTP Creative Rights Committee. He received the AIDS Project Los Angeles Commitment to Life Award in 1991, the Medal of Honor from the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

in 1994 and the

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

in 1996. Sheinberg and his wife jointly received the 1995

's Humanitarian Award. In 2008, he received the

Mike Farrell Michael Joseph Farrell Jr. (born February 6, 1939) is an American actor, best known for his role as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on the television series '' M*A*S*H'' (1975–83). In addition, Farrell was a producer of '' Patch Adams'' (1998) starr ...

Human Rights Award from Death Penalty Focus. Sheinberg Place (a street on the Universal Studios lot in Los Angeles), was dedicated in his honor February 4, 2008, at a ceremony honoring the former studio chief.

David Geffen David Lawrence Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American film producer, record executive, and media proprietor. In music, he co-founded Asylum Records with Elliot Roberts in 1971 before founding Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1 ...

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg ( ; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and busin ...

and

were among those attending.

Personal life

Sheinberg married actress Lorraine Gary in 1956. Together, they had two sons, William and Jonathan, with whom he co-founded The Bubble Factory in 1995.

Death

Sidney Sheinberg died in

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 ...

, on March 7, 2019, at the age of 84 from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheinberg, Sid 1935 births 2019 deaths People from Corpus Christi, Texas Columbia Law School alumni American entertainment industry businesspeople 20th-century American Jews Filmmakers from Texas American LGBTQ rights activists American media executives American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American talent agents Universal Pictures MCA Records California lawyers Texas lawyers NBCUniversal people American film production company founders Deaths from Parkinson's disease in California 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American philanthropists American lawyers