Jules C. Stein

"Jules Stein" redirects here. Not to be confused withJule Styne.

Jules C. Stein
Born	(1896-04-26)April 26, 1896 South Bend, Indiana,U.S.
Died	April 29, 1981(1981-04-29)(aged 85) Los Angeles, California,U.S.
Burial place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Physician, businessman
Known for	co-founder ofMusic Corporation of America
Spouse	Doris Jones Stein (1928–1981; his death)
Children	2 daughters, includingJean Stein;2 stepsons

Jules C. Stein(April 26, 1896 – April 29, 1981) was an American physician and businessman who co-foundedMusic Corporation of America(MCA).

Early life and education

Stein was born inSouth Bend, Indiana,toLithuanian Jewishimmigrants, one of six children (three boys and three girls) of Louis Stein, a dry goods store owner, and Rosa Cohen (née Kahanaski).In 1915, he graduatedfrom theUniversity of Chicago.While in college, he supported himself by playing the violin and saxophone at weddings and bar mitzvahs; and later, realizing that he was not a very good musician, by organizing dance bands for the same events.Once, when he realized he could not make it to a gig, he hired a substitute whom he paid less than he would have personally made. This was the inspiration for focusing his energy on hiring musicians, instead of working as a musician himself, as a business model. In 1921, he graduated with a medical degree fromRush Medical College.He then went to theUniversity of Viennato study for a year and upon returning to Chicago, he was appointed chief resident atCook County Hospital.Stein continued to book bands on the side and eventually left his secure life as anophthalmologistfor the entertainment industry. At the time, Chicago was a major centre forjazz—which had displacedragtimeas the popular music—and when combined withProhibition,created a lucrative environment for entertainment. Stein adjusted to the new landscape and shifted from booking bands for weddings to nightclubs. Stein became very successful. Several of his bands played forspeakeasiesowned byAl Caponewith whom Stein was a friend.

Career

In 1924, he contributed $5,000 and along with equal contributions from Fred Hamm and Ernie Young, founded theMusic Corporation of America(MCA). He arranged one-night bookings, rather than having bands seek engagements for whole seasons which was then the norm. He signedGuy Lombardoand other leading bands of the day. Stein started package deals for complete shows for hotels and radio broadcasting. Spreading from the one-man start to bases in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Cleveland, Stein's organization by the mid-1930s represented more than half of the nation's major bands, including those ofTed Weems,Isham JonesandBenny Goodman.

In 1937, MCA opened an agency in Hollywood and began to represent such stars asBette Davis,Betty Grable,Joan Crawford,Greta Garbo,Eddie Cantor,Ingrid Bergman,Frank SinatraandJack Benny.By the mid-1940s, it was estimated that half of the movie industry's stars were being represented by MCA. The MCA organization picked up the nicknamethe octopusdue to its large reach in many different directions. In 1958, it acquired the 430-acre (1.7 km²)Universal Studiosmoving into producing television programs and motion pictures while still representing talent clients, resulting in accusations of conflict of interest.

In 1958, Music Corporation of America was reincorporated as MCA, Inc. which it was known by and took its stock public. Dr. Stein's biggest accomplishment came in 1962 when his company announced it was buying AmericanDecca Recordsand its subsidiaryUniversal Pictures;however that same year, a federal antitrust suit was started against MCA. Both parties reached an agreement that MCA dispose of its worldwide talent agency business to go forward with its acquisition. Stein had been sole owner of the organization until 1954, when he voluntarily distributed 53 percent of his interest to key executives and employees, with 10 percent of the stock placed in an innovative MCA profit-sharing trust. Stein served as president of MCA until 1946 when he namedLew Wassermanas his successor as chief executive. He continued as chairman of the board until 1973 and remained a director thereafter.

Philanthropy

Jules Stein and his wife Doris founded theJules Stein Eye InstituteatUCLAin the 1960s.

In 1960, Stein founded the nonprofit organizationResearch To Prevent Blindness.

In 1942, Stein,John Garfield,andBette Davis,also founded theHollywood Canteen.(TheStage Door Canteenwas on the US' East Coast).

Personal life

In 1928, he married Doris Babette Openheimer (née Jones) who was also of Jewish descent. She had two sons, Harold and Gerald, with her first husband, Harold Oppenheimer, a Kansas City car dealer whom she married at the age of eighteen;Stein raised her sons as his own. Doris was also a cousin of the actorGeorge Jessel.Stein and Openheimer had two daughters:

• Jean Stein(1934-2017), author and editor, marriedWilliam vanden Heuvel,a diplomat and lawyer who served in the U.S. Justice Department underRobert F. Kennedy.They had two children: journalist and television personalityKatrina vanden Heuvel,editor-publisher ofThe Nation;and Wendy vanden Heuvel (born 1961), an actress and producer in New York. Jean Stein later marriedTorsten Wiesel,a co-recipient with David H. Hubel of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• Susan Stein Shiva (1936-1983) married Gil Shiva of New York.They had two children: Alexandra Elizabeth Shiva,and Andrew Shiva PHD, who founded the National Currency Foundation.

Stein ownedMisty Mountain,aWallace Neffdesigned house on Angelo Drive. Stein bought the house in 1940; it was sold after his death toRupert Murdoch.Jean Stein wrote of her upbringing in the house and her parents' parties there in her 2016 memoirWest of Eden.

Jules Stein died inLos Angeles,aged 85, in 1981. His widow, Doris J. Stein, later founded theDoris J. Stein FoundationinBeverly Hills, California.He is interred atForest Lawn Memorial ParkinGlendale, California.

References

• "Jules Stein, MD (deceased)".The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. 2008.Retrieved2008-01-17.
• "About Jules Stein".Jules Stein Eye Institute.Retrieved2018-04-10.

External links

• Portrait of Jules C. SteinbyMargaret Holland Sargent