Harvey Silbert

Harvey L. Silbert (June 10, 1912 – September 28, 2002) was an American entertainment lawyer, casino executive and philanthropist. He represented celebrities and studio executives. He was a real estate investor in Westwood, Los Angeles, and a director of casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was a major donor to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he brought Hollywood celebrities for fundraisers.

Harvey L. Silbert
BornJune 10, 1912
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedSeptember 28, 2002
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materSouthwestern University Law School
OccupationLawyer, philanthropist
Spouse(s)Lillian Levin
Children1 son, 1 daughter

Early life

Harvey Silbert was born on June 10, 1912 in Los Angeles, California.[1] He grew up in Boyle Heights, and he became barmitzvah at the Breed Street Shul.[1][2]

Silbert graduated from the Southwestern University Law School.[1][2]

Silbert was an entertainment lawyer.[3] With Greg Bautzer and others, he co-founded the law firm Wyman, Bautzer, Silbert & Kuchel.[3][4] He represented actors including Constance Bennett, Gail Russell,[5] Dan Dailey,[6] and Frank Sinatra,[7] and studio and casino executives such as Howard Hughes.[3]

With investors Bernard M. Silbert and M. A. Borenstein, Silbert acquired "50 retail stores and 12 parking lots" in Westwood, from S. Jon Kreedman in 1961.[8] (The properties belonged to Arnold Kirkeby, but Kreedman had an option on them.[8])

The Riviera casino and hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Silbert served as the secretary and treasurer of the Albert Parvin Foundation, which owned stocks in the Parvin-Dohrmann Corporation, until it sold its gambling stocks due to allegations of corruption regarding Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas in March 1968.[9][10] Two months later, in May 1968, Silbert joined the board of directors of the corporation, which owned the Fremont Hotel and Casino and the Stardust Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.[11][12] Also in May 1968, he joined the board of directors of the Riviera, a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, alongside David Merrick and Harry A. Goodman.[11][12] Silbert, who by December 1968 served as the vice president of the Parvin-Dohrmann Corporation, oversaw the acquisition of the Aladdin Resort & Casino from Milton Prell for US5.45 million in December 1968.[13] Three years later, in 1971, he served as the president of the Riviera casino.[14]

Silbert developed the Sheraton Plaza Hotel in Palm Springs, California in 1984.[15][16]

Silbert was a lawyer at Loeb & Loeb, an international law-firm based in Century City, in the 1990s.[2] From 1998 to 2002, Silbert belonged to Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil and Shapiro.[1]

Philanthropy

Silbert served on the board of directors of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the Bet Tzedek Legal Services, and the Shaare Zedek Medical Center.[1][17] He made charitable gifts to the Anti-Defamation League and the Milken Family Foundation.[1]

Silbert served on the board of trustees of his alma mater, the Southwestern University School of Law,[1] where he endowed the Harvey L. and Lillian Silbert Public Interest Fellowship Program with his wife.[18] He also served on the board of trustees of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[1] He also endowed the Silbert International Scholars Program at UCLA's School of Medicine.[1]

Silbert served as the chairman of the American Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[3][4] With his wife, he endowed the Harvey L. Silbert Center for Israeli Studies and supported the construction of the Lillian and Harvey L. Silbert Humanities Building, the Silbert Family Wing in the Louis Boyar Building, and the Lillian Silbert Garden on its campus.[1] Moreover, Silbert helped Bernard Cherrick, its vice president, bring Hollywood celebrities to attend fundraisers on campus.[19] He persuaded Frank Sinatra to endow the construction of the Frank Sinatra International Student Centre on campus.[19] He also persuaded Barbra Streisand to endow the Emanuel Streisand Building for Jewish Studies in 1984.[19]

Personal life, death and legacy

Silbert married Lillian Levin.[1] They had a son, Kenneth, and a daughter, Lynne.[1] They resided in a house designed by architect Harold Levitt in Beverly Hills, California.[11][20]

Silbert died on September 28, 2002 in Los Angeles, California.[1][3] His funeral was held at the Temple Israel of Hollywood.[1]

The American Friends of the Hebrew University named the annual Harvey L. Silbert Torch of Learning Award in his honor.[21] It was awarded to attorney William Shernoff in 2008.[22] By 2015, it was awarded to Jonathan H. Anschell, the Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Secretary for the CBS Corporation, and Richard S. Volpert, a partner at the law firm Glaser Weil.[23]

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References
  1. Aushenker, Michael (October 3, 2002). "Eulogies:Harvey Silbert: Philanthropist and Attorney, Dies at 90". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  2. Pfefferman, Naomi (May 21, 1998). "Access Hollywood". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  3. Galloway, Doug (October 31, 2002). "Harvey Silbert". Variety. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  4. Oates, Marylouise (February 20, 1987). "Power People and the Causes They Champion". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  5. "Actress Asks Jury Trial". The San Bernardino County Sun. San Bernardino, California. November 28, 1953. p. 4. Retrieved August 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. It was a cameraman's field day in Santa Monica Municipal Court Friday when actress Gail Russell, shown with her attorney, Harvey Silbert, pleaded not guilty to a drunk driving charge and asked for a jury trial.
  6. "'I'm Innocent'". Pasadena Independent. Pasadena, California. December 30, 1958. p. 2. Retrieved August 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Film star Dan Dailey is shown at Van Nuys Municipal Court, where he pleaded innocent yesterday to charge of drunk-driving. He was freed on $263 bail, with trial set for Feb. 5. His lawyer, Harvey Silbert, is at right.
  7. White, Michael (May 19, 1998). "Sinatra leaves music rights to kids, estate to wife". The Kokomo Tribune. Retrieved August 20, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Sinatra's lawyer, Harvey Silbert, has previously said that only he and Sinatra knew what was contained in the document. Silbert and investor advisor Milton Rudin did not return calls seeking comment.
  8. Wanamaker, Marc (2010). Westwood. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 9780738569109. OCLC 639158795.
  9. Polk, James R. (May 19, 1969). "Stock Sold by Justice Douglas 'Gift" Good for $2 Million". The Post-Crescent. Appleton, Wisconsin. p. 39. Retrieved August 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. The foundation's secretary and treasurer, Harvey Silbert, disclosed in a telephone interview Monday that 21.791 shares in Parvin-Dorhmann were sold during the first week of March at 91.75 each.
  10. Heller, Jean (October 30, 1969). "Funds For Parvin Foundation Came From Flamingo Hotel Sale". The Evening Sun. Hanover, Pennsylvania. p. 29. Retrieved August 29, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Merrick a Vegas Investor". The Kansas City Times. Kansas City, Missouri. May 13, 1968. p. 2. Retrieved August 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. The other two members of the hotel's board of directors will be Harvey Silbert, a Beverly Hills, Calif., lawyer, and Harry A. Goodman of Beverly Hills.
  12. "Merrick, 2 Others Take Over Las Vegas' Riviera". Independent Press-Telegram. Long Beach, California. May 12, 1968. p. 61. Retrieved August 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Indiana Trusts In Bankruptcy Make Millions". The Piqua Daily Call. Piqua, Ohio. April 21, 1972. p. 8. Retrieved August 29, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Harvey Silbert, business advisor for the Aladdin, and also serving as counsel for Parvin-Dohrmann of which he was vice president, director and stockholder.
  14. Heffernan, Harold (August 23, 1971). "Comedian's Bet Fan Is Another Comedian". The Daily Times-News. Burlington, North Carolina. p. 23. Retrieved August 29, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Deutsch, Linda (February 24, 1984). "A land of milk and honey (and lots of big money)". The San Bernardino County Sun. San Bernardino, California. p. 37. Retrieved August 29, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Sun-seekers flocking to Palm Springs". Santa Cruz Sentinellocation=Santa Cruz, California. February 26, 1984. p. 3. Retrieved August 29, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Silbert, Harvey L." The Los Angeles Times. October 3, 2002. Retrieved September 4, 2016 – via Legacy.com.
  18. "Harvey L. and Lillian Silbert Public Interest Fellowship Program". Southwestern Law School. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  19. McKie, David; Toledano, Margalit (2013). Public Relations and Nation Building: Influencing Israel. New York: Routledge. pp. 88–89. ISBN 9780415698924. OCLC 776536645.
  20. "Silbert, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, residence". Huntington Digital Library. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  21. "About the Silbert Torch of Learning Award". American Friends of the Hebrew University. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  22. Berrin, Danielle (April 10, 2008). "Scene and Heard". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved August 30, 2016. The American Lawyer wrote that William M. Shernoff is "the attorney insurance companies fear the most," probably because he recently won a multibillion dollar restitution settlement from European life insurance companies on behalf of Holocaust victims and their families. American Friends of The Hebrew University (AFHU) honored the barrister with the Harvey L. Silbert Torch of Learning Award at a gala dinner at The Beverly Hills Hotel on March 12.
  23. Torok, Ryan (April 17, 2015). "Moving and Shaking: AFHU award dinner, TRZ Yom HaShoah event and fire safety at B'nai David-Judea". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved August 30, 2016. American Friends of The Hebrew University’s (AFHU award ) Harvey L. Silbert Torch of Learning Award Dinner on April 13 honored attorneys Jonathan Anschell and Dick Volpert while raising more than $1 million to support the prominent Israeli university.
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