Lester Persky (July 6, 1925 – December 16, 2001) was an American film, television, and

theatre producer A theatrical producer is a person who oversees all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The producer is responsible for the overall financial and managerial functions of a production or venue, raises or provides financial backing, and hires ...

Early life and 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, Persky attended

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

before serving in the Merchant Navy 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 ...

. After the war, he worked at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and later as a copywriter at an advertising agency. Persky later opened his own successful ad agency. In 1964,

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

used some of Persky's collection of old TV ads as part of Warhol's film ''

Soap Opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' (1964).WarholStars entry
/ref> As a producer, Persky won a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for his work on the miniseries ''

A Woman Named Jackie ''A Woman Named Jackie'' is a 1991 American television miniseries chronicling the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It was based on C. David Heymann's 1989 book of the same title. The miniseries was split into three parts: *''A Woman Named Ja ...

''. Persky also attempted to produce a miniseries based on the life of

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

with Terry Moore serving as a consultant.

Death

On December 16, 2001, Persky died of complications following heart surgery in Los Angeles.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Persky, Lester Film producers from New York (state) Television producers from New York City American theatre managers and producers United States Merchant Mariners of World War II Brooklyn College alumni Emmy Award winners People from Brooklyn 1925 births 2001 deaths