Nat Lefkowitz (July 24, 1905 – September 4, 1983) was an American talent agency executive who served as co-chairman of the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent a ...

Biography

Lefkowitz was born to a

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 ...

family in Brooklyn. He attended New York City public schools and was a graduate of

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

and the

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...

. After school, he worked as an accountant and then went to work for the

in 1927 where he held a number of positions including

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

, executive vice president, president, and the chairmanship in 1976. His brother Julius Lefkowitz ran the outside accounting firm that William Morris agency used. In 1980, he was replaced by his protégé Morris Stoller after an acrimonious power struggle at the agency. He was named as chairman emeritus. Lefkowitz was active in served as the chairman of the Jewish Theatrical Guild, as an executive with the

United Jewish Appeal The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was a Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization that existed from its creation in 1939 until it was folded into the United Jewish Communities, which was formed from the 1999 merger of United Jewish Appeal (UJA), Cou ...

, the

Federation of Jewish Philanthropies UJA-Federation of New York (United Jewish Appeal⁣ – ⁣Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, Inc.) is the largest local philanthropy in the world. Headquartered in New York City, the organization raises and allocates funds annually ...

, the

Actors Fund The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that supports performers and behind-the-scenes workers in performing arts and entertainment, helping more than 17,000 people directly each year. Ser ...

, the

Will Rogers Memorial Hospital Will Rogers Memorial Hospital is a historic tuberculosis sanatorium located at Saranac Lake in Essex County, New York. It was built in 1928 as the National Vaudeville lodge by the National Vaudeville Artists Association, who previously sent pati ...

, the O'Donnell Memorial Research Laboratories and the

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

Personal life

He was married to Sally Feigelman; they had three daughters, Dorothy Lefkowitz Litwin, Rona Lefkowitz Pinkus Forstadt, and Helene Andrea Lefkowitz Nachtigall. He died on September 4, 1983 in Manhattan after complications from heart surgery. Services were held at

Riverside Memorial Chapel The Riverside Memorial Chapel is a Jewish funeral home chain with their main facility at 180 West 76th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City.Ted Ashley Ted Ashley (August 3, 1922 – August 24, 2002) was the chairman of the Warner Bros. film studio from 1969 to 1980 and founder of the Ashley-Famous talent agency. Biography Ashley was born to a poor American Jews, Jewish family in Brooklyn in 192 ...

, former chairman of the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

film studio (1969–1980) and founder of the

Ashley-Famous Ashley-Famous was a talent agency started in 1955 by talent agent Ted Ashley. The agency had a successful 16-year run under that name and owner; it was responsible for many hit television shows and had several famous clients. It changed ownership a ...

talent agency.

References

1905 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American Jews American talent agents 20th-century American businesspeople City College of New York alumni Brooklyn Law School alumni {{US-business-bio-1890s-stub