Michael Eisner was born March 7, 1942 in Mount Kisco, New York, to attorney Lester Eisner, Jr., and his wife Margaret Dammann, whose family founded the American Razor Company. His mother was president of the Irvington Institute, a hospital specializing in the treatment of children with rheumatic fever. Michael was raised by his affluent secular Jewish family on Park Avenue in New York City, where he attended a private boys school through ninth grade, then boarded at a prep school in New Jersey through high school graduation. He received a bachelor of arts degree in English from Denison University, where he was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity.
Eisner worked at NBC and CBS before being hired at ABC as an assistant programming manager and then moving up the ranks to become a senior vice president in charge of programming and development. He was recruited by Barry Diller to become president and COO of Paramount Pictures, at which he green lighted such films as Saturday Night Fever, Grease, the Star Trek film franchise, Ordinary People, Raiders of the Lost Ark, An Officer and a Gentleman, Flashdance, Terms of Endearment, Beverly Hills Cop, and Footloose. He also okayed such TV shows as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Cheers and Family Ties.
When he was passed over to succeed Diller at Paramount, he moved over to Walt Disney Studios, where he served as chairman and CEO. Under his watch, Disney released such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Little Mermaid and acquired Miramax Films, ABC, most of ESPN, Fox Family, and The Muppets. Under Eisner, Disney also opened Disneyland Paris, Disney-MGM Studios, Disney’s California Adventure Park, and Disney-MGM Studios Paris, some of which were financial disappointments. Jeffrey Katzenberg, upset by his stalled upward movement in the company, was awarded $280 million in a contract dispute with Eisner, then went on to co-found DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen.
In 2005, Eisner announced he would step down and was succeeded by Bob Iger. From 2006 through 2009, Eisner hosted a talk show on CNBC, Conversations with Michael Eisner. He later purchased the Portsmouth F.C., a football (soccer) club in the south of England.
Eisner and his wife, Jane Breckenridge, a Unitarian of Swedish and Scottish descent, have three sons: Breck, Eric, and Anders Eisner.
Tomorrow, March 8: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
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