Nathan Spingold (1886–June 14, 1958) was a motion picture executive and a leading administrator in the game of

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions o ...

Biography

Born in Chicago, Spingold studied law at the Kent College of Law before becoming a newspaper reporter. He worked for the '' Chicago Examiner'', the ''

Chicago Record-Herald The ''Chicago Record-Herald'' was a newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois from 1901 until 1914. It was the successor to the '' Chicago Morning Herald,'' the ''Chicago Times Herald'' and the ''Chicago Record''. H. H. Kohlsaat, owner of the '' ...

'' and the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''. Spingold entered show business when

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

wanted a press agent for a

Harry Lauder Sir Henry Lauder (; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)Russell, Dave"Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 was a S ...

tour. Morris asked his Chicago manager to "hire that reporter with the big nose" allegedly meaning

Jack Lait Jack Lait (March 13, 1883 – April 1, 1954) was an American journalist, author and playwright. During a 50-year career he wrote prolifically and became renowned as one of the leading newspapermen of the first half of the 20th century. He is ...

, but the manager hired Spingold instead. He moved to New York in the early 1930s with 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 ...

and later joined

The Shubert Organization The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters ...

, managing entertainment personalities. He joined

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

in 1932 in a public relations capacity where his career in the motion picture business saw him rise to the board of directors in 1940. In 1943, he became vice president of advertising, publicity and exploitation and in 1954 he became general vice-president of the company. Spingold was the third largest shareholder at Columbia, behind founders

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His father, Joseph Cohn, wa ...

and

Jack Cohn Jacob Cohn (October 27, 1889 – December 8, 1956) was a co-founder of Columbia Pictures Corporation. Early life Cohn was born in New York, the son of Joseph, a tailor from Germany, and Bella, from Russia. He had three brothers, Maxwell (1888� ...

, and was one of the few executives who stood up to Harry.

Bridge

Active in contract bridge from its earliest days, he donated the

Spingold The Spingold national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Spingold is a knock-out team event that attracts the top contract bridge players in the world. T ...

Trophy in 1934 for the World Championship Masters Team-of-Four; the trophy is still among the most prized achievements in the game. Spingold was named American Bridge League (ABL) honorary member in 1936 and became president of the

American Contract Bridge League The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. It is the largest such organization in North America having the stated mission ''"to promote, grow and sustain th ...

(ACBL) in 1938, having been key to its creation by the merger of the ABL and the United States Bridge Association (USBA) the previous year. On the ACBL board of governors, its board of directors and also president of the

Cavendish Club The Cavendish Club was a prestigious contract bridge club founded in 1925 by Wilbur Whitehead in association with Gratz M. Scott and Edwin A. Wetzlar. Initially located at the Mayfair House (65th and Park Avenue) in New York City, it relocated se ...

in New York, he was regarded as one of the most influential men in contract bridge administration in the 1930s and 1940s.

Personal life

His wife, Frances, was known as Madame Frances, one of the most successful

couturier ''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...

s. They were patrons of the arts and had a significant art collection, including many French

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

paintings and contemporary American art. They donated art to

The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 F ...

, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

and a museum in Israel. They lived in New York City at 12 East 77th Street (formerly owned by

Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (January 14, 1880 – September 4, 1925) was a member of the Vanderbilt family. He was the father of Gloria Vanderbilt and maternal grandfather of Anderson Cooper. An avid equestrian, Vanderbilt was the founder and pr ...

) and also owned a mansion in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...

which was a well known social centre. Spingold was also a director of the Palm Beach Country Club. He was a fellow of

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

Illness and death

Spingold had been having issues with his vocal chords and been hospitalized for chest conditions which restricted his working. He was homebound throughout 1958 and died at home on June 14, 1958, after a long illness.

Notes

External links

The Nate and Frances Spingold collection
at The Metropolitan Museum of Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Spingold, Nathan B. 1886 births 1958 deaths American film studio executives Columbia Pictures people Contract bridge administrators