Aaron "Rosy" Rosenberg (August 26, 1912 – September 1, 1979) was a two-time " All-American" college football player, and a film and television producer with more than 60 credits.Robert Slater (2000)
''Great Jews in Sports''
/ref> He received a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

for ''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...

'' (1962) starring

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

Football career

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, he went to Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, where he played football for the Fairfax Lions.Richard J. Shmelter (2014)
"Aaron Rosenberg"
''The USC Trojans Football Encyclopedia''. There he made the All-City Football Team four straight years. He then majored in journalism at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

. USC was 30-2-1 in his career, and won two national championships. He was a two-way offensive and defensive guard/ tackle. USC’s unbeaten streak, with Rosenberg playing, was 27 games between 1931 and 1933. He was All-Conference and was selected for the

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

team in 1932 and 1933, named to both the 1932 College Football All-America Team and the 1933 College Football All-America Team. He was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 1966, and the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2010 he was inducted into the

Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distinguished themselves ...

Film career

Following his college career, he became an apprentice at

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

in 1934 as an assistant director under producer

Sol Wurtzel Solomon Max Wurtzel (September 12, 1890 – April 9, 1958) was an American film producer. Life and career Born in New York City, the second of five brothers; his parents were both Polish Jews from the village of Ulanow (Surname ''Wurtzel'' i ...

, where he worked until 1942. He spent time as a naval officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

before joining

Universal-International Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

as an assistant director. He later became a producer, with his first film as producer being ''

Johnny Stool Pigeon ''Johnny Stool Pigeon'' is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed by William Castle and starring Howard Duff, Shelley Winters and Dan Duryea. Plot A narcotics agent convinces a convict he helped send to Alcatraz go undercover with him t ...

'' in 1949. He produced a wide range of films including ''

Man Without a Star ''Man Without a Star'' is a 1955 American Western film directed by King Vidor and starring Kirk Douglas, Jeanne Crain, Claire Trevor and William Campbell. It was based on the novel of the same name, published in 1952, by Dee Linford (1915–19 ...

'', directed by

King Vidor King Wallis Vidor (; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...

and starring

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...

, '' To Hell and Back'' (1955) and ''

The Benny Goodman Story Dick Winslow ''The Benny Goodman Story'' is a biographical film starring Steve Allen and Donna Reed, directed by Valentine Davies, and released by Universal-International in 1956. The film was intended as a follow-up to Universal's 1954 hit ''The G ...

'' (1956). In 1950, he produced ''

Winchester '73 ''Winchester '73'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. Written by Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards, the film is about the journey of a prized ...

'' starring

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

and directed by

Anthony Mann Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. Mann initially started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where ...

and produced other films involving them both including ''

Bend of the River ''Bend of the River'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julie Adams, and Rock Hudson. Based on the 1950 novel ''Bend of the Snake'' by Bill Gulick, the film is about a tough cow ...

'' (1952), ''

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

'' (1953), ''

The Glenn Miller Story ''The Glenn Miller Story'' is a 1954 American biographical film about the eponymous American band-leader, directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their second non-western collaboration. Plot The film follows big band leader Glenn ...

'' (1954) and ''

The Far Country ''The Far Country'' is a 1954 American Technicolor Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Walter Brennan, John McIntire and Corinne Calvet. Written by Borden Chase, the film is about a self-minded advent ...

'' (1955). He left Universal in 1957. He spent five years at

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

and rescued ''

'' (1962) from production problems which took two years to make and for which he was nominated for the

as the producer. He then returned to Fox where he spent a further six years producing films including ''

Fate Is the Hunter Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'' (1964), '' Morituri'' (1965), '' Do Not Disturb'' (1965) and 3

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

films - ''

Tony Rome ''Tony Rome'' is a 1967 American neo-noir mystery crime thriller film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Frank Sinatra in the title role, alongside Jill St. John, Sue Lyon and Gena Rowlands. It was adapted from Marvin H. Albert's novel '' ...

'' (1967), '' The Detective'' (1968) and ''

Lady in Cement ''Lady in Cement'' is a 1968 American neo-noir mystery crime comedy thriller film directed by Gordon Douglas, based on the 1961 novel ''The Lady in Cement'' by Marvin H. Albert. The film stars Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Dan Blocker, Richa ...

''. He also executive produced the TV series ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

'' starring

Fess Parker Fess Elisha Parker Jr. (born F. E. Parker Jr.;Weaver, Tom.Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers p. 148 (McFarland 2012). August 16, 1924 – March 18, 2010),(March 18, 2010Daniel Boone Actor Fess Parker Dies at 85" ''CBS ...

, that ran from 1964 to 1970. He returned to Universal in 1969 where he made his last feature film, '' The Boy Who Cried Werewolf'' (1973). He retired after producing ''

Reflections of Murder ''Reflections of Murder'' is a 1974 made-for-TV movie that was produced by ABC. A suspense-thriller film, it is a remake of the classic 1955 French film '' Les Diaboliques''. John Badham directed, from Carol Sobieski's script. The cast was led ...

'' for television in 1974. Director

Budd Boetticher Oscar "Budd" Boetticher Jr. ( ; July 29, 1916 – November 29, 2001) was an American film director. He is best remembered for a series of low-budget Westerns he made in the late 1950s starring Randolph Scott. Early life Boetticher was born in ...

, who made ''

Red Ball Express The Red Ball Express was a famed truck convoy system that supplied Allied forces moving quickly through Europe after breaking out from the D-Day beaches in Normandy in 1944. To expedite cargo shipment to the front, trucks emblazoned with red ...

'' (1952) and ''

The Man from the Alamo ''The Man from the Alamo'' is a 1953 American Western film directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Glenn Ford, Julie Adams and Chill Wills.Budd Boetticher: The Last Interview Wheeler, Winston Dixon. Film Criticism; Meadville Vol. 26, Iss. 3, ...

'' (1953) with Rosenberg, later called Rosenberg his "favorite producer of all time because he was so damn honest.… He and I had a lot of arguments because we both wanted to make better pictures than Universal wanted us to make."

Personal life

He had a son and three stepchildren.

Death

He died at age 67 in Torrance Memorial Hospital on September 1, 1979, after an extended illness.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, Aaron 1912 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople All-American college football players Film producers from New York (state) American football guards College Football Hall of Fame inductees Jewish American sportspeople Sportspeople from Brooklyn Players of American football from New York City USC Trojans football players Film directors from New York City 20th-century American Jews