S. (Sydney) Mark Taper (December 25, 1901 – December 15, 1994) was a Polish-born British-American real estate developer, financier 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 ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
. His 1962 gift to 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 ...
resulted in the
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighboring ...
being named for him in 1967.
Early life
Mark Taper was born on December 25, 1902, in a region of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, then part of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
to Benjamin Taper, a tailor (b. 1881, Russia, d. 1963, London) and Rebecca (nee Rothfarb, b. 1882, Russia) and raised in England, where he had immigrated with his parents at a young age and would live for 36 years. His family was Jewish. He married Amelia Lewis (b. 1909, London, England, d. 1958, Los Angeles) born to Louis A. Lewis, a furrier in London, and Florence (nee Hobinstock), both born in London, England. She was an illustrator for London ''Vogue'', and the couple had three children, born in South London. Amelia's cause of death was determined by the coroner performing the autopsy to be "acute pulmonary edema and congestion due to acute alcohol intoxication". She died at the couple's home at 816 North Alpine Drive in Beverly Hills and was buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City. In 1962 in Los Angeles, Mark Taper married actress Roberta Gale (1914-2008); the marriage lasted eight months.
Career
Taper opened five shoe stores in England. In 1926, at the age of 25, he was able to retire. From 1929, he instead began successfully investing and developing innovations in
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
and house building. One of his more famous projects in the 1930s was a prestigious development he created in
Brockley
Brockley is a district and an electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross.
History
The name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood where badgers are seen (' ...
, Southeast London, whereby Taper named one street Millmark Road (now Millmark Grove) in honor of his wife, (nicknamed Milly) in a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsBarriedale) for his young son, Barry. By the late 1930s, Taper had retired and moved his family to
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
, becoming an American citizen.
During Southern California's postwar housing boom, Taper founded Biltmore Homes and began building suburban housing for returning soldiers in
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
Compton
Compton may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district
* Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton
* Compton, Que ...
and Lakewood. In all, he built 35,000 houses for low and middle-income people as part of some of the largest housing projects in the U.S. Taper also founded the First Charter Financial Corporation of
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
, parent of
American Savings and Loan
American Savings and Loan Association was an American savings and loan based in Stockton, California. It was the largest thrift failure and the federal government's costliest resolution during the savings and loan crisis at an estimated cost of $ ...
. In 1949 he partnered with Louis Boyar and
Ben Weingart
Ben Weingart (1888-1980) was an American real estate investor and developer, influential in the development of various areas of southern California, including Lakewood, California. A self-made man, Weingart became one of the richest men in Californ ...
to acquire 3500 acres of agricultural land near Long Beach, The group formed the Lakewood Park Company and with financing from
Prudential Insurance
Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers ...
, built 17,000 affordable homes in the new community of
Lakewood, California
Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 80,048 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west and south, Bellflower, California, Bellflower on the north, C ...
. The group built the Lakewood Center in 1953, and two years later Lakewood was the largest planned city in the United States.
Philanthropy
Taper financed the first gallery for modern works at the
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 ...
as a memorial to his wife, Amelia, who died in 1958, and was a major donor to the
University of California at Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
.
Mark and Amelia Taper devoted much of their time to transporting hundreds of
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
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 ...
children out of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. The S. Mark Taper Foundation was established in 1952 as a family foundation, and remains active in philanthropic giving, including funding the S. Mark Taper Foundation Imaging Center at
Cedars Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
and the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium at
Benaroya Hall
Benaroya Hall is the home of the Seattle Symphony in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. It features two auditoria, the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, a 2500-seat performance venue, as well as the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital H ...
in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
.
Death and legacy
Taper died suddenly from a heart attack on December 15, 1994, in his
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...
, home. He was buried next to his wife in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.
As part of the 2007-2008 renovations, the auditorium of the Mark Taper Forum will be named the Amelia Taper Auditorium after a $2 million gift from the S. Mark Taper Foundation.