Arnold Stiefel

Arnold Stiefel
Born Arnold Stiefel
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Residence Beverly Hills, California
Occupation Talent Manager, Film Producer, Television Producer, Entrepreneur

Arnold Stiefel, chairman and CEO of Stiefel Entertainment, is an American talent manager, film and television producer, and entrepreneur.[1][2] Over the course of his career, Stiefel has worked with Bette Midler, Prince, and Toni Braxton, amongst others, but is best known for his association with Rod Stewart, whom he has managed since 1983.[3]

Career

Stiefel was born in Philadelphia, where his father, Alex Stiefel, owned the renowned Uptown Theater, the "crown jewel of the Philadelphia black entertainment scene."[4] Growing up, Stiefel was exposed to classic films as well as iconic rhythm and blues artists such as The Supremes, Fats Domino, Etta James, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder,[5] and developed an early interest in entertainment.

At 18, Stiefel moved from Philadelphia to New York City, where he joined Bantam Books in an entry level position. He quickly rose up the ranks, working with Jacqueline Susann, Gore Vidal, and Tom Wolfe,[6] and when he left Bantam, at 22, he was one of book publishing's youngest directors. After he was recruited by Paul Kohner, Stiefel moved from New York to Los Angeles, where he joined the Paul Kohner Agency as a literary agent. After a year, he left Kohner to found his own company, The Stiefel Office.

His first client was the then-unknown screenwriter Bo Goldman. Shortly after signing with Stiefel, Goldman wrote the script for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which won the Academy Award for "Best Adapted Screenplay" in 1975.[7] Stiefel broadened his roster to include actors and musicians, signing Bette Midler, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner,[8] and Jeff Goldblum,[9] among others. In 1978, he was once again[10] integral to the production of an award-winning film as he paired his clients Goldman and Midler for The Rose,[9] which was nominated for four Academy Awards[11] and won three Golden Globes.[12] Subsequently, The Steifel Office was acquired by ICM; after 19 months Stiefel and his clients famously defected to the William Morris Agency, creating front-page headlines in Hollywood trade magazines.[13] During his two years at William Morris, Stiefel worked with Cher, Val Kilmer, Jonathan Demme, and Matthew Broderick.[14][15][16]

In September 1983, Stiefel left William Morris to start his own management and production company, Stiefel Entertainment. He began managing Rod Stewart immediately thereafter, implementing a long term strategy to restore Stewart's rock and roll credibility, which had suffered since the release of Stewart's disco-inflected 1978 hit, "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

By 1988, Stewart had achieved an unprecedented level of success.[17] A US tour, originally scheduled for four months, was extended to 13, grossing $50 million, and Stewart's 1988 album, Out of Order, sold more than 2 million copies in North America within months of its release.[18] In 1994, Stewart staged a concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, drawing an audience of 4.2 million people and setting a record for the largest live concert in history.[19] To date, Stewart has sold more than 150 million albums, including the Grammy winning[20] Great American Songbook records. Released between 2002 and 2010, the Songbook collection of five albums is the best selling series of all time.[21]

In 1984, Stiefel hired Randy Phillips, who later became the CEO of AEG Live, to focus on the touring division of Stiefel Entertainment; together, they managed artists including Prince, The Bangles, Morrissey,[22] Toni Braxton, and Guns n Roses.[23] In 1992, Stiefel and Phillips founded Gasoline Alley Records,[24] a joint venture with MCA,[25] most notably releasing Sublime's multi-platinum eponymous debut.[26]

As a motion picture producer, Stiefel’s credits include the Warner Bros. film Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil, directed by Clint Eastwood, the film rights for which Stiefel acquired prior to the book’s publication.[27] Additionally, he was a producer on Jonathan Demme's Talking Heads concert film, Stop Making Sense,[28] and reluctantly produced Prince's Razzie award winning Graffiti Bridge.[29] Stiefel served as the executive producer on About Last Night..., the film adaptation of David Mamet’s award winning play, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and has produced several television specials for Rod Stewart.[30] He also produced Tonight's The Night, a 2003 musical based on Stewart's greatest hits, which ran for a year in London's West End. A new production of Tonight's The Night will tour the UK beginning in January 2014.[31]

In 2002, Stiefel partnered with rock promoter Andrew Hewitt to reinvent Il Sole, a restaurant on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. With a clientele that included celebrities and industry heavyweights, the well-reviewed Il Sole[32] became a "power restaurant," and retained its status until Stiefel and Hewitt sold it in 2011.[33]

External links

References

  1. ↑ Arnold Stiefel at the Internet Movie Database
  2. ↑ Arnold Stiefel at AllMusic. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Ewbank, Tim, Hill, Stafford (2012). Rod Stewart, The New Biography. New York: Crown Publishing. p. 179.
  4. ↑ Gregg, Cherri. "Renovations Begin At Philadelphia's Historic Uptown Theater". December 12, 2007. CBS. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Bogdanov, Vladimir (2003). All Music Guide To Soul. New York, New York: Hal Leonard Corporation.
  6. ↑ Seaman, Barbara (1996). Lovely Me: The Life of Jaqueline Susann. New York: Seven Stories Press. pp. 361, 362.
  7. ↑ "1975 Winners/Acceptance Speeches". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  8. ↑ Lambert, Gavin (2004). Natalie Wood: A Life. New York: Knopf. pp. 320, 353, 355.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Fruitkin, Alan. "The Man Behind Midnight". November 11, 1997. The Advocate. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  10. ↑ Byron, Stuart (1982). How 'Making Love' Got Made. New York: The Village Voice. pp. 37–41.
  11. ↑ "51st Annual Academy Award Winners and Nominees". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "The Rose - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "Archives". Variety Magazine.
  14. ↑ "Information Page, Bo Goldman". March 24, 2005. Zoom Info. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  15. ↑ Kornbluth, Jesse (March 25, 1985). "The Kid With The Million Dollar Smile". New York Magazine (New York Media, LLC) 18 (12). ISSN 0028-7369. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  16. ↑ Christianson, Richard. "Bringing Perversity To Chicago". June 29, 1986. Chicago Tribume. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  17. ↑ Keaveney, Shaun. "Rod Stewart". 2012. BBC. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  18. ↑ Hildred, Stafford, and Tim Ewbank (2004). Rod Stewart, The New Biography. New York: Knopf. pp. 179, 180.
  19. ↑ "Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  20. ↑ "2005 Grammy Award Winners". Billboard. March 2005. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  21. ↑ "Guinness Book of World Records 2012". 2012. Random House. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  22. ↑ Morrissey (December 3, 2013). Morrissey: Autobiography. Putnam Adult. ISBN 978-0399171543. “…a man of strong imagination and unmatchable wit – affectionate but competitive – and an hour spent in his company would never be an hour lost.”
  23. ↑ Ro, Ronin (2011). Prince: Inside the Music and The Masks. New York: Macmillan. p. 192.
  24. ↑ Rosen, Craig. "Seagram Deal: Trade Weighs Impact". April 22, 1995. Billboard.
  25. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick. "MCA Cements Relationships With Custom Labels". June 20, 1991. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  26. ↑ Bush, John. Arnold Stiefel at AllMusic. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  27. ↑ "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil". 1997. New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  28. ↑ "Stop Making Sense at IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  29. ↑ Bream, Jon. "After Delays and Reworking, Prince's Musical Set To Open". November 1, 1990. Minneapolis Star Tribune. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  30. ↑ "Arnold Stiefel Film Credits". IMDb. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  31. ↑ "Rod Stewart's Catalog Breeds Musical". 2003. Billboard. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  32. ↑ "Il Sole". Zagat's. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  33. ↑ Ginsberg, Merle. "LA's New Power Restaurants". April 15, 2011. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 May 2013.