Hy Levine Dies: Print And Outdoor Advertising Executive Behind Studio Film Blockbusters Was 87

Bruce Haring
·3 min read
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Herman (Hy) Levine, who had a nearly 50-year career in the film industry and worked with Lew Wasserman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dick Cook, and many other prominent executives, has died at 87.

Levine died Dec. 27 in Rockville, MD, following a short battle with pancreatic cancer, according to his son, Stuart Levine, who is the VP editorial and media relations at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.

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Levine was at Disney from 1986-1998 and rose to VP of co-op advertising at the time when the studio was accelerating its film output after a particularly fallow period. In his position, Levine was responsible for the print and outdoor advertising for all the Disney features, which also fell under the Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures banner.

Among the many films where Levine played a vital role in their success were The Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Down and Out in Beverly Hills and Beaches.

With a set budget to spend for each film, Levine would determine the size and scope of the ad campaigns in such major publications as the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, as well as hundreds of local papers and national magazines. At a time when newspapers were the main source of awareness for a film opening, the breadth of the ad campaign played a major factor whether a film would resonate with audiences during its first weekend in theaters.

Levine was hired at Disney by former marketing chief Bob Levin, but also had close working relationships with toppers Cook and Katzenberg over his years at the studio.

Prior to his time at Disney, Levine spent two decades at Universal, starting in 1967 in the road show division working on the Julie Andrews film Thoroughly Modern Mille and Shirley MacLaine’s Sweet Charity. Situated in the company’s Park Avenue office in New York, Levine would go on to plan the advertising strategies for such Universal classic films as The Sting, Airport, Earthquake, The Wiz, and the 1975 blockbuster Jaws.

In 1979, he was asked by Universal chieftain Lew Wasserman and his right-hand man, Herb Steinberg, to move cross-country and come to work on the Universal lot in California. He would be there before moving to Disney, with a short stay at MGM in between.

His earlier stints in the film business began at United Artists and Joseph E. Levine’s Embassy Pictures.

Levine grew up in Brooklyn an enormous Dodgers fan, having attended the seventh game of the 1955 World Series where the Dodgers finally beat their arch-rival, the New York Yankees. He enjoyed freelancing as a basketball referee, was the president of his local B’nai B’rith chapter, enjoyed cruising, and found great solace in his Judaism.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Ethel (E.J.); sons Stuart and Mark, the latter a counselor at Montgomery College in Maryland; grandchildren Zoe, Max and Maggie; daughters-in-law Priscilla and Amy; and two older sisters, Florence and Gladys.

Those wishing to make a donation on his behalf can contact Montgomery County (Maryland) hospice at Montgomery Hospice and Prince George’s Hospice – Montgomery Hospice and Prince George’s Hospice.

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