Ivan L. Wilzig (born January 6, 1956) is an American recording artist and songwriter who is best known for his pop-dance remakes of 1960s and early 1970s peace songs. He created The Peaceman Foundation, a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that battles hatred, violence and

post traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a ...

(PTSD). In the US alone, he has appeared on various reality television shows, such as '' Who Wants to be a Superhero?'', on Syfy, ''Epic Castle'' on the Destination America channel ''The Fabulous Life of the Hamptons'' on VH1, ''Chef Roble & Co.'' on Bravo, and most recently on ''Super Heroes in 3D TV'' on 3Net.

Early life and banking career

Ivan Wilzig was born in 1956 and raised with his two younger siblings,

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *A ...

and sister Sherry, in

Clifton, New Jersey Clifton is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Criss-crossed by several major highways, the city is a regional commercial hub for North Jersey and is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York Metropolitan Area. As ...

, where he attended Clifton High School. Wilzig's father

Siggi Wilzig Siggi B. Wilzig, born Siegbert Wilzig (March 11, 1926 – January 7, 2003), was a survivor of concentration camps Auschwitz and Mauthausen who arrived in the U.S. in 1947 with little money and only a grade school education. By the time of his deat ...

(1926–2003) came to the United States as a Holocaust survivor from Germany. Fifty-nine of his relatives were murdered by the Nazis during

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. His mother was an art collector Naomi Wilzig (1934-2015). After multiple salesman positions, Siggi Wilzig ultimately became Chairman, President and CEO of Wilshire Oil Company of Texas, then listed on the

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the List of stock exchanges, world's largest s ...

; and Chairman, President and CEO of The Trust Company of New Jersey, then listed on

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

. Wilzig graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, in 1977, earning a B.A. degree in European

intellectual history Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual histor ...

. He then earned his J.D. degree at

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is the law school of Yeshiva University. Located in New York City and founded in 1976, the school is named for Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo. Cardozo graduated its first class in 1979. An LL.M. p ...

at Yeshiva University in 1980. Instead of practicing law, he joined his father in running The Trust Company of New Jersey, a full-service

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with cor ...

founded in 1896. Under Wilzig the Trust Company brokered various deals that allowed 50 bank mini-branches to open up in A&P, Pathmark and ShopRite supermarkets, in affluent New Jersey counties.

Music career

Wilzig began voice lessons at the age of 10. In his youth, he attended an Orthodox Hebrew school, and sang in the synagogue choir.Herald News, Oct 12 1967 p.11 His first professional gigs were singing at Kutsher's Country Club in the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

, and then as a soloist at

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in New York City with the Samuel Sterner Choir. Later, he performed in both high school (''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...

'') and college ('' Bye Bye Birdie'') musicals. His father Siggi discouraged him from continuing in music as a career, wanting his son to have a more secure profession. In 2001, Ivan Wilzig met recording industry executive Dave Jurman, Senior Director of Dance Music at

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. Jurman introduced Wilzig to two-time Grammy-Award nominee and record producer Ernie Lake, who produced Ivan's remake of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's "

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

" with Ivan performing vocals.

Tom Silverman Tom Silverman is an American entertainment executive. He is most notable for founding the pioneering hip-hop and electro-funk music label, Tommy Boy Records, now known as Tommy Boy Entertainment. Early life and education Silverman grew up in Whi ...

, owner of

Tommy Boy Records Tommy Boy Entertainment is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digital U ...

signed the track and released it on September 4, 2001. "

", sold 10,000 vinyl copies in its first three months and became a Top-40 hit on the Billboard Club Play Chart. It was the first time a

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

song had been remade as an electronic dance music song. His follow-up single, "San Francisco" was signed by label owner Jellybean Benitez, and released on Jellybean Recordings, reaching #7 on the Billboard Singles Sales Chart. Wilzig's third single, "Peace on Earth", was his first original song, and was released by Artemis Records, making the Billboard Charts and reached number #2 on the DMC (Dance Music Community) World Chart in the UK.

Television & film

Reality TV

During the first season of '' Who Wants to be a Superhero?'' in 2006, Ivan attempted to audition with the producers as Peaceman, but he was too late to be included. He was encouraged to audition for the next season. His Peaceman character made the cut for

Season Two Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * ''2econd Season ''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk. Release It was released on November 4, 2008. Guest Performers The album features gu ...

, but as a precondition, the

SyFy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

channel owned by NBC, was to obtain the trademarks to contestant characters. Ivan refused to give up the trademark to Peaceman, and attempted to create a new character

Mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; he, מִצְוָה, ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment commanded by God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discus ...

Man, but the name had already been trademarked. Mr. Mitzvah, however, was not trademarked, and he took on the identity of Mr. Mitzvah for the show. He was, however, eliminated after the 3rd episode by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

Other

Ivan has appeared on numerous lifestyle and reality television shows since 2000. He was on the Travel Channel's ''Manhattan on the Beach'' in 2000, the WE show ''Single in the Hamptons'' in 2002. VH1's Hopelessly Rich (''Hopelessly Rich'') in 2003,

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

's ('' The Fabulous Life of the Hamptons''). in 2007. In 2012, Wilzig appeared on "The Crazy Hamptons Blowout," Episode 5 of Bravo's Chef Roble and Co., which aired January 1, 2012. Most recently, Sir Ivan made his first 3D TV appeared on 3Net's Super Heroes show, which first aired on February 10, 2013. He appeared on the German TV channel

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

right after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, where he discussed his single, "Imagine". In early 2004, this time as part of the series ''So lebt ein Milliardaer!'' ''Lifestyle of a Billionaire'', he appeared as Peaceman next to supermodel Naomi Campbell, DJ Paul Oakenfold and tennis player Venus Williams. In 2006, ProSieben featured him in ''Die Maedchen und der Milliardaer'' (''The Girls and the Billionaire''). In the late 1990s Ivan and Alan Wilzig built a medieval-style castle in Water Mill, in the Hamptons, on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

, commonly referred to now as "Sir Ivan's Castle".

Discography

;Singles *"

" (2001, Peaceman Music) *" San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" (2004, Peaceman Music) *"Peace on Earth" (2004, Peaceman Music) *" For What It's Worth" Remix (2008, Peaceman Music) *"

Kumbaya "''Kum ba yah''" ("''Come by here''") is an African American spiritual song of disputed origin, but known to be sung in the Gullah culture of the islands off South Carolina and Georgia, with ties to enslaved West Africans. The song is thought ...

" (2009, Peaceman Music) *" Hare Krishna" Remix (2010, Peaceman Music) *"Live For Today" (2011, Peaceman Music) *"La La Land" (2012, Peaceman Music) *"Here Comes The Sun" (2014 Peaceman Music) *"Kiss All The Bullies Goodbye" (2015 Peaceman Music) *"Imagine 2016" (2016 Peaceman Music) *"I Am Peaceman" (2017 Peaceman Music) * "Get Together" (The Remixes) (2018, Peaceman Music) ;Albums *''For What It's Worth'' (2008, Peaceman Music) *''Kumbaya'' (2009, Peaceman Music) *''Hare Krishna'' (2010, Peaceman Music) *''Live For Today'' (2011, Peaceman Music) *''I Am Peaceman'' (2010, Peaceman Music) *''I Am Peaceman'' (2012, Peaceman Music/ Worldwide Records) - India *''Here Comes The Sun'' (2013, Peaceman Music) *''Kiss All The Bullies Goodybye'' (2015 Peaceman Music) *''Peaceman Shines 2016'' (2016 Peaceman Music)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilzig, Ivan 1956 births Living people American bankers American lawyers American techno musicians American people of German-Jewish descent Clifton High School (New Jersey) alumni Participants in American reality television series People from Clifton, New Jersey University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law alumni