Lloyd Eugene Rigler (May 3, 1915December 7, 2003) was an American businessman and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. As a businessman, he and a partner, Lawrence E. Deutsch, made Adolph's Meat Tenderizer a

national brand A national brand is the brand of a product that is distributed nationally under a brand name owned by a producer or distributor as opposed to local brands distributed only in some areas of a country and to private labels that carry a brand owned b ...

. One of his notable philanthropic efforts was the establishment, in 1994, of the

Classic Arts Showcase Classic Arts Showcase (CAS) is a television channel in the United States promoting the fine arts. The television program content includes prepared media and recorded live performances. It is a 24-hour non-commercial satellite channel broadcasting ...

, a free, non-commercial television channel promoting the

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

Early life and education

Rigler was born in Lehr,

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, to Frank and Jeannette Rigler, who ran a general store serving the farming community in the town of

Wishek, North Dakota Wishek ( ) is a city in McIntosh County, North Dakota, McIntosh County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 864 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Wishek was platted in 1898 when the railroad was extended to that ...

where the family lived. He had five siblings. As a young man, he moved to live with relatives in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and worked to save money to attend the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, from which he graduated in 1939.

Career

After graduating from college, Rigler moved to New York City to go into theater. To support himself, he worked as an interviewer for a marketing research agency and did the initial research for the Waring Blender. He later headed guest relations at

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

's exhibit introducing television at the New York World's Fair in 1940. After the fair, he trained as an

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

Red Seal record promotion specialist – and Rigler came to Los Angeles a year later and became a Los Angeles salesman for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. In 1942 during World War II, Rigler signed up for the U.S. Navy, but due to the fact that he had poor vision in his left eye, spent the war in

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

instead of overseas. Lawrence E. Deutsch and Rigler met when Rigler worked in the food business and leased space from Deutsch. They went into business together in the mid-1940s. In 1948, he and Deutsch, who died 1977, bought the Adolph's recipe and name from Adolph Rempp, a chef and restaurant owner in Santa Barbara, California. They later sold the Adolph's brand to

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

. After the sale of their company, Deutsch and Rigler formed the Ledler Corporation, a venture capital firm.

Philanthropy

When Rigler's partner, Deutsch, died in 1977, Rigler formed the philanthropic foundation called Lloyd E. Rigler–Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation. In May 1994, Rigler founded

, which was based on the idea that for people who didn't have the money to see art and culture live, this television channel would provide a 24/7 experience for free. Prior to his death, he had funded the program to operate through at least 2022; the channel stated in 2020 that the foundation still has enough money to run the channel through at least 2040 with no additional outside funding sources. The signal of Classic Arts Showcase is not scrambled, so there is no authentication / access restriction. There are also no commercials. In 1999, Rigler founded American Association of Single People, which was focused on political rights for single people. Other philanthropic efforts: * 1980s:

Joffrey Ballet The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies and training institutions in the world today. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at Lyric O ...

– when it was located at the

Los Angeles Music Center The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion ...

* 1990s:

Egyptian Theatre Egyptian-style theatres are based on the traditional and historic design elements of Ancient Egypt. The first Egyptian Theatre to be constructed in the US – which inspired many of the identically-named theatres that followed it – was Graum ...

– restoration *

American Cinematheque The American Cinematheque is an independent, nonprofit cultural organization in Los Angeles, California, United States dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the moving image in all its forms. The Cinematheque was created in 1981 as ...

, Hollywood theaters *

– Founding Donor *

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

: Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors *

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

- refurbishing *

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

s- donations

Death

Rigler died of cancer on December 7, 2003 at age 88, at his home in Los Angeles.

References

External links

* *
Guide to the Rigler–Deutsch Index (ARS.0105)
at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...