Steven Spielberg pays tribute to his longtime publicist and advisor Marvin Levy, the only marketing professional to win an Oscar for his work. Levy died on Monday at 96.
“The death of Marvin is a huge loss for me and our industry written largely,” Spielberg said in a statement obtained by the Times. “There are a lot of leaders of a talented Pr, but Marvin was unique.”
The director “Munich” said that Levy was “a deeply faithful and exceptional collaborator” who was enthusiastic about his work and respected and appreciated by all those who worked with him. The two started working together on the 1977 film “Close encouragement of the Third Kind”. Levy was vice-president of advertising, advertising and promotions at Columbia Pictures, but quickly left Columbia for Amblin Entertainment and, later, DreamWorks.
“Regarding press management, he had no peer. For the media – and the world of exhibition, Marvin was the face of Amblin,” said Spielberg. “We were opposite ends of the film production process. Whenever I reached the end of production on a film, Marvin's work had only started.
“Through countless films, television series, Amblin events, award campaigns and our public relations strategy – this is where Marvin came to life.”
Levy was born on November 16, 1928 in New York, where he then attended Nyu. After participating in the ROTC program, he spent two years in the Air Force, where he started his work in communications. At the base of Selfridge Air Force of Michigan – renown of the base of the National Guard of Selfridge Air in 1971 – he managed public relations and advertising.
For the file:
11:29 am April 10, 2025An earlier version of this story had an incorrect date of birth for Marvin Levy. He was born on November 16, 1928, not November 6.
He married his wife, Carol, at the beginning of his twenties 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, then two grandsons, Daniel and Brian.
Levy entered New York entertainment in the 1940s, working on television games and pioneering talk shows, then at the MGM New York advertising office and at the public relations agency Blowitz Thomas and Canton. His next concert was in Cinema Seaking, a work that brought him to the west coast. Finally, he found himself in Columbia Pictures, and soon the rest was in history. Levy would end his career by working with Spielberg et al., Removing in 2024.
“He was creative, innovative and respected for his knowledge and honesty,” said Spielberg. “He was delighted to understand new and best ways to present films to the public. Consequently, he was the first and the only publicist to receive an Oscars.”
This honor came in November 2018 at the awards of the Governors of the Film Academy.
“This Oscar was the most surprising and exciting price I can imagine”, ” Levy said in his acceptance speech. “We have had three presidents at the Academy … of our own branch of public relations, but it is the first time that the Academy has considers one of us for this prize. This also does the most humiliating honor. ”
He also mentioned Spielberg in this speech, saying: “He always treated me like a storyteller, and we are all storytellers in the public relations branch. Because the universe that we build around our films and our television does not concern the story told, but it is a question of ensuring that history lasts. ”
Levy has directed promotional campaigns and awards ceremony for films made by Spielberg – which has credited the publicist for a large part of their success – including “and”, “Jurassic Park”, “Schindler's List” and “Saving Private Ryan”, to name a few. He also worked on the franchise “Back to the future”, “Ben-Hur”, “Taxi Driver”, “Kramer vs Kramer”, “Sophie's Choice”, “Men in Black”, “Shrek”, “Gladiator” and many more influential films.
Levy sat on the board of directors of the governors of the Academy of Arts and Cinema Sciences for 23 years and was president of the Academy's Public Relations branch for a large part of this time. He supported the USC Shoah Foundation, the Rightteous Persons Foundation and Starlight Children's Foundation.
“I am grateful for all our years together,” said Spielberg. “Marvin never failed to make me laugh, he never stopped smiling. We will miss Marvin. You will always be in our hearts and your memory will always make us smile. ”
Levy is survived by his wife, son and grandchildren. Funeral will take place Friday at 10 a.m. to Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills.
