Former Disney executive Herman “Hy” Levine has died at the age of 87 after suffering from pancreatic cancer, according to Variety.
What’s Happening:
- Herman “Hy” Levine passed away on December 27th in Rockville, Maryland, at the age of 87 after suffering from pancreatic cancer.
- He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Ethel, as well as two older sisters, Florence and Gladys; two sons, Stuart, a senior NBCUniversal TV communications executive; and Mark, a counselor at Montgomery College in Maryland; and three grandchildren, Zoe, Max, and Maggie.
- Levine was a 48-year veteran of the film industry who rose through the marketing ranks at Universal and Disney.
- From 1986 to 1998, he was an executive at Disney and rose to the rank of Vice President of Co-Op Advertising in the early 1980s.
- Levine is responsible for the prints and outdoor advertising on all Disney features, including what fell under the Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures banners.
- Films that he helped launch included The Lion King, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid as well as live-action titles such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Down and Out in Beverly Hills and Beaches.
- Levine also worked closely with film marketing chiefs Bob Levin, Dick Cook, and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
- Before Disney, he spent two decades at Universal, starting in 1967. Levine worked on the Julie Andrews film Thoroughly Modern Millie and the Shirley MacLaine starrer Sweet Charity.
- Levine would also plan advertising strategies for such Universal classics as The Sting, Airport, Earthquake, The Wiz and the Steven Spielberg film Jaws.
- In 1979, he relocated to the West Coast at the request of Universal Chieftain Lew Wasserman and Herb Steinberg.
- He spent a short time at MGM before moving over to Disney.
- Our condolences go out to his family during this tough time.