Edward Lasker (businessman)

Edward Lasker (May 15, 1912 – July 11, 1997) was an American businessman and Thoroughbred racehorse owner.

Edward Lasker
Born	(1912-05-15)May 15, 1912
Died	July 11, 1997(1997-07-11) (aged 85) Los Angeles
Nationality	American
Education	B.A. Yale University J.D. University of California in Los Angeles
Spouse(s)	Caral Gimbel (divorced) Jane Greer (divorced) Cynthia Stone Palmer
Children	with Greer: --Alex Lasker --Lawrence Lasker --Steven Lasker
Parent(s)	Flora Warner Lasker Albert Davis Lasker
Family	Bernard Gimbel (father-in-law) Frances Lasker Brody (sister) Doris Kenyon (stepmother) Mary Woodard Reinhardt (stepmother)

Biography

He was one of the three children of Flora Warner and her husband, Albert Davis Lasker (1880-1952), the owner of Lord & Thomas, a highly successful Chicago advertising agency, who was also the owner of the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball team.[1] His sisters are Mary Lasker Block (1904-1981) and Frances Lasker Brody (1916–2009).[1]

Edward Lasker graduated from Yale University in 1933. He then joined his father's advertising agency where he worked until 1942 when he joined the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific. In 1935, he married Gimbels department-store heiress Caral Gimbel (daughter of Bernard Gimbel),[2] but the marriage ended in divorce and Caral wed baseball star Hank Greenberg in 1946.

After the war (by which time his father had left the advertising business), Edward Lasker moved to the West Coast of the United States where he became a film producer in Hollywood. In 1947, Lasker married actress Jane Greer with whom he had three children: Alex and Lawrence Lasker (both screenwriters and producers) and Steven Lasker. In 1963, Lasker married Cynthia Stone Palmer.

In 1929, Lasker became involved in Thoroughbred horse racing as an owner/breeder. After his marriage, his wife also became a race horse owner. At age forty, he went back to university to study for a law degree. After graduating in 1955 from the University of California in Los Angeles he began practicing law and served for many years on the boards of directors of Phillip Morris, Inc. and Great Western Financial.

Edward Lasker died in Los Angeles on July 11, 1997, aged 85.

References

1. Morello, John A.. "Albert Lasker", Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 4, edited by Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute; accessed June 26, 2013.
2. Rosengren, John (March 2013). Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes. New York: New American Library. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-451-23576-3.

Sources

• Ingham, John N. Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders (1983) Greenwood Press ISBN 978-0-313-23910-6