Steven Spielberg is paying tribute to his longtime publicist and councilor Marvin Levy, the one advertising and marketing skilled to earn an Oscar for his work. Levy died on Monday on the age of 96.
“The disappearance of Marvin is a big loss for me and our sector wrote large,” mentioned Spielberg in a declaration obtained from the Times. “There are many gifted managers of public relations, however Marvin has been distinctive in its sort.”
The director of “Monaco” mentioned that Levy was “a deeply loyal and distinctive collaborator” who was keen about his work and revered and appreciated by all those that labored with him. The two began working collectively within the 1977 movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Levy was vice -president of promoting, promoting and promotions at Columbia Pictures, however quickly left Columbia for the leisure of Amblin and, later, Dreamworks.
“When it got here to handle the press, he had no equal. For the media – and the world of the exhibition, Marvin was the face of Amblin,” mentioned Spielberg. “We have been against the movie manufacturing course of. Every time I reached the top of the manufacturing in a movie, Marvin’s work had solely began.
“Through numerous movies, TV collection, Amblin occasions, award campaigns and our public relations technique – that is the place Marvin has come alive.”
Levy was born on November 6, 1928 in New York City, the place he later attended New York University. After taking part within the Rotc program, he spent two years within the Air Force, the place he began his work in communications. At the Michigan Selfridge air base – renamed Selfridge Air National Guard Base in 1971 – managed public relations and promoting.
He married his spouse, Carol, about 20 years outdated and was nonetheless married to the girl who referred to as “the love of my life” 73 years later. The couple would have had two kids, Don and Doug, and later two grandchildren, Daniel and Brian.
Levy started to entertain in New York within the Nineteen Forties, engaged on video games of video games and pioneering discuss exhibits, then to the MGM New York Advertising Office and to the Pr of the movie Blowitz Thomas and Canton. His subsequent live performance was on the cinema on the cinema, a job that introduced him to the west coast. In the top, it ended for Columbia Pictures and shortly the remaining was historical past. Levy would have completed his profession working with Spielberg et al., Withdrawn in 2024.
“He was inventive, progressive and revered for his data and honesty,” mentioned Spielberg. “He was keen about imagining new and higher methods to current movies to the general public. Consequently, he was the primary and solely publicist to obtain an Oscar.”
That honor arrived in November 2018 to the Governors Awards of the movie Academy.
“This Oscar was essentially the most stunning and thrilling prize I can think about”, Levy said in her acceptance speech. “We had three presidents on the Academy … from our department of public relations, however that is the primary time that the academy has thought-about certainly one of us for this prize. So this additionally makes it the honorable honor.”
He additionally talked about Spielberg in that speech, saying: “He has at all times handled me as a narrator, and we’re all narrators from the general public relations department. Because the universe that we construct round our movies and our TV will not be solely the story advised, however it’s a matter of constructing certain that the story lasts”.
Levy led promotional campaigns and prizes for movies directed by Spielberg – who has credited to the publicist for many of their success – together with “Et”, “Jurassic Park”, “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan”, to call a couple of. He additionally labored on the “Back to the Future” franchise, “Ben-Hur”, “Taxi Driver”, “Kramer Vs. Kramer”, “Sophie’s Choice”, “Men in Black”, “Shrek”, “Gladiator” and lots of extra influential movies.
Levy was a part of the Board of Directors of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of the movie for 23 years and was president of the Branch Pr of the Academy for many of that point. The USC Shoah Foundation, the Righteous Person Foundation and the Starlight Children’s Foundation supported.
“I’m grateful for all our years collectively,” mentioned Spielberg. “Marvin has by no means did not make me snigger, he by no means stopped smiling. We will miss Marvin. You will at all times be in our hearts and your reminiscence will at all times make us smile.”
Levy survived her spouse, kids and grandchildren. A funeral can be held at 10 on Friday in Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills.
