James E. Galton (; November 1, 1924 June 12, 2017) was an American business executive who was the president of

Marvel Entertainment Group Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Enterprises) is an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, New York, formed by the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group and Toy Biz. The company is a wholly own ...

Life

Galton grew up on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

in the 1930s. He attended

Antioch College Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was its f ...

with a work study program to help pay for college. Initially a sociology major, he soon changed his major to business. He graduated in 1946. He married Lydia about 1967.

Career

After graduating, Galton accepted an accountant position where he worked for four years. He then when to an advertising agency then to a magazine publisher, moving up the ladder. Galton eventually ended up at a paperback publisher,

Popular Library Popular Library was a New York paperback book company established in 1942 by Leo Margulies and Ned Pines, who at the time were major pulp magazine and newspaper publishers. The company's logo of a pine tree was a tribute to Pines, and another ...

Books. He was executive vice president when

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

purchased the company. He soon became president in 1968 only to be fired by new CBS leadership over his editorial based book manuscript selection method. Galton then was hired by

Cadence Industries Cadence Industries Corporation, formerly known as Perfect Film & Chemical Corporation, was an American conglomerate owned by Martin S. Ackerman. From 1968 through 1986, Cadence Industries was the parent company of Marvel Comics Group (formerl ...

as Marvel Comics Group president in 1975. He moved licensing in house starting with international in 1978 then domestic in 1981. He also moved the company more into animation with

Marvel Productions New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of ...

in 1980 and publishing with

Marvel Books Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comic ...

division in 1982. He left Marvel in 1991. Galton died at his Naples, Florida home on June 12, 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galton, Jim 1924 births 2017 deaths American business executives Antioch College alumni