Ron Kass (March 30, 1935 – October 17, 1986) was an American businessman, recording executive, manager of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

, and film producer. Kass worked with at least four recording companies:

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

Warner Brothers 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 ...

, and

Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Ma ...

Early life

Born Ronald Stanley Kashinoff in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, his family changed the name to Kass when they moved to California. He attended Fairfax High Schoolin

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

where he played in a band that became

Tijuana Brass Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
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and then got a degree in accounting from UCLA.

Career

Kass married his UCLA sweetheart, Anita, and started working for Liberty Records which was directly across from Hollywood High School. He was promoted to overseas manager and eventually president of Liberty. He started working for

, the label set up by

, in 1968 and 1969 which was when he divorced Anita. He was effectively forced from his position at Apple by the Beatles' new manager

Allen Klein Allen Klein (December 18, 1931 July 4, 2009) was an American businessman whose aggressive negotiation tactics affected industry standards for compensating recording artists. He founded ABKCO Music & Records Incorporated. Klein increased profits ...

after he was falsely accused of "financial impropriety" (he was succeeded in the position by his former deputy Jack Oliver). Kass's film producing credits included '' Melody'' (1971), '' The Optimists'' (1973) starring

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

, ''

Naked Yoga Naked yoga (Sanskrit ''nagna yoga'' or ''vivastra yoga'') is the practice of yoga without clothes. It has existed since ancient times as a spiritual practice, and is mentioned in the 7th-10th century ''Bhagavata Purana'' and by the Ancient Gree ...

'' (1974) nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

for Best Documentary Short Subject, '' The Stud'' (1978) and '' The Bitch'' (1979) both based on novels by

Jackie Collins Jacqueline Jill Collins (4 October 1937 – 19 September 2015) was an English romance novelist and actress. She moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and spent most of her career there. She wrote 32 novels, all of which appeared on The New York Times B ...

, and starring her sister

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primeti ...

. He and Collins appeared on ''

Tattletales ''Tattletales'' is an American game show produced by Goodson- Todman Productions in association with Fremantle. The program had two runs on the CBS daytime schedule between February 1974 and June 1984. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with severa ...

'' in 1977 & 1982.

Personal life

With Anita his first wife, they had their first son David, and then Kass moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

but settled his family in

Lugano, Switzerland Lugano (, , ; lmo, label= Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Lugano has a popula ...

, where they had two more sons, Roberto and Jonathan. After their divorce, Anita raised their children in Lugano. As adults their children later moved to the US. In 1972, Kass married Joan Collins. They had a daughter, Katyana ("Katie"), born in 1972. Kass and Collins were divorced in 1983, but reportedly remained close. Collins provided for Kass's medical care when he was ill with terminal cancer, in addition to flying his sons from Switzerland to their father. Kass died from cancer in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, at the age of 51 with Collins at his bedside.

References

External links

*
New York Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kass, Ron 1935 births 1986 deaths American entertainment industry businesspeople American film producers Apple Records 20th-century British musicians 20th-century American businesspeople