Steven Spielberg is paying tribute to his longtime publicist and advisor Marvin Levy, the only marketing professional to earn an Oscar for his work. Levy died Monday at age 96.
“Marvin’s passing is a huge loss for me and our industry writ large,” Spielberg said in a statement obtained by The Times. “There are many talented PR executives, but Marvin was one of a kind.”
The “Munich” director said Levy was “a deeply loyal and exceptional collaborator” who was enthusiastic about his work and respected and appreciated by all who worked with him. The two started working together on the 1977 movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Levy was vice president of advertising, publicity and promotions at Columbia Pictures but soon left Columbia for Amblin Entertainment and, later, Dreamworks.
“When it came to handling the press, he had no peer. To the media – and the world of exhibition, Marvin was the face of Amblin,” Spielberg said. “We were opposite ends of the movie-making process. Every time I reached the end of production on a film, Marvin’s work had only begun.
“Through countless films, TV series, Amblin events, awards campaigns and our public relations strategy — this is where Marvin came alive.”
Levy was born Nov. 6, 1928, in New York City, where he later attended NYU. After participating in the ROTC program, he spent two years in the Air Force, where he started his work in communications. At Michigan’s Selfridge Air Force Base — renamed the Selfridge Air National Guard Base in 1971 — he handled public relations and advertising.
He married his wife, Carol, in his early 20s and was still married to the woman he called “the love of my life” 73 years later. The couple would have two sons, Don and Doug, and later two grandsons, Daniel and Brian.
Levy got into entertainment in New York in the 1940s, working on game shows and pioneering talk shows, then at MGM’s New York publicity office and at film PR agency Blowitz Thomas and Canton. His next gig was at Cinema Releasing, a job that brought him to the West Coast. Eventually, he wound up at Columbia Pictures, and soon enough the rest was history. Levy would finish out his career working with Spielberg et al., retiring in 2024.
“He was creative, innovative and respected for his knowledge and honesty,” Spielberg said. “He was excited to figure new and better ways to present films to audiences. As a result, he was the first and only publicist to receive an Academy Award.”
That honor came in November 2018 at the film academy’s Governors Awards.
“This Oscar has been the most surprising and exciting award I can imagine,” Levy said in his acceptance speech. “We’ve had three presidents at the academy … from our own public relations branch, but this is the first time the academy has considered one of us for this award. So that makes it the most humbling honor too.”
He also mentioned Spielberg in that speech, saying, “He’s always treated me like a storyteller, and we are all storytellers in the public relations branch. Because the universe we build around our films and our TV isn’t just about the story being told, but it’s about making sure the story lasts.”
Levy led promotional and awards campaigns for movies directed by Spielberg — who credited the publicist for much of their success — including “E.T.,” “Jurassic Park,” “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan,” to name a few. He also worked on the “Back to the Future” franchise, “Ben-Hur,” “Taxi Driver,” “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “Sophie’s Choice,” “Men in Black,” “Shrek,” “Gladiator” and many more influential films.
Levy served on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for 23 years and was chairman of the academy’s PR branch for much of that time. He supported the USC Shoah Foundation, Righteous Persons Foundation and Starlight Children’s Foundation.
“I am grateful for all our years together,” Spielberg said. “Marvin never failed to make me laugh, he never stopped smiling. We will miss you Marvin. You will always be in our hearts and your memory will always make us smile.”
Levy is survived by his wife, sons and grandsons. A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills.
