{{Short description|American entertainment industry businessman (1910–1994)}} {{Redirect|Arthur Krim|the geographer and historian|Arthur J. Krim}} {{Infobox person | name = Arthur Krim | image = Arthur Krim, United Artists Executive (cropped).jpg | caption = Krim in 1978 | birth_name = Arthur Brian Krim | birth_date = {{birth date|1910|4|4}} | birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1994|9|21|1910|4|4}} | death_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | political_party = Democratic | spouse = Mathilde Galland | education = Columbia University (BA, JD) }} '''Arthur B. Krim''' (April 4, 1910 – September 21, 1994) was an American entertainment lawyer, the former finance chairman for the U.S. Democratic Party, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson and the former chairman of Eagle-Lion Films (1945–1950), United Artists (1950–1978), and Orion Pictures (1978–1994). His more than four decades as a movie studio head is one of the longest in Hollywood history.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Krim, Trustees' Former Leader, Is Dead at 84|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol20/vol20_iss4/record2004.15.html|access-date=2020-08-09|website=www.columbia.edu}}</ref>

==Biography== Born to a Jewish family<ref name=Shtetl>{{cite book|url=http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=purduepress_previews|first=Vincent|last=Brook|title=From Shtetl to Stardom: Jews and Hollywood: Chapter 1: Still an Empire of Their Own: How Jews Remain Atop a Reinvented Hollywood|pages=17|publisher=Purdue University Press|date=December 15, 2016|isbn=9781557537638|access-date=October 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416125626/http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=purduepress_previews|archive-date=April 16, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> in New York City, he received his B.A. from Columbia University in 1930, and graduated from Columbia Law School two years later.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=Winter 2014|title=In Memoriam: Arthur B. Krim '30, LAW'32|url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/archive/winter14/obituaries10|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226151706/http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/archive/winter14/obituaries10 |archive-date=2016-12-26 |access-date=August 8, 2020|website=Columbia College Today}}</ref>

Krim was a partner at the firm of Phillips Nizer Benjamin Krim & Ballon. He worked as an entertainment lawyer for clients such as Clifford Odets and John Garfield.<ref>p. 47 Morrison, John ''Mathilde Krim'' Infobase Publishing, 2009</ref>

He served in the U.S. Army Service Forces in the Pacific Theatre of Operations of World War II where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

==Film== In 1946 Krim and his partner Robert Benjamin managed the American portion of Eagle-Lion Films where they sought top talent to produce their films.<ref>Tzioumakis, Yannis ''American Independent Cinema: Second Edition'' Edinburgh University Press, 7 Mar 2018</ref>

When Krim and Benjamin took over United Artists in 1951, stockholders gave them three years to turn a profit; they did it in six months.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewoftheweek.net/2019/04/10/jews-of-the-week-mathilde-and-arthur-krim/|title=Jews of the Week: Mathilde and Arthur Krim &#124; Jew of the Week|first=Jew of the|last=Week|date=10 April 2019 |access-date=2019-07-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420193844/https://www.jewoftheweek.net/2019/04/10/jews-of-the-week-mathilde-and-arthur-krim/|archive-date=2019-04-20|url-status=live}}</ref> Krim remained with UA until 1978 when he created Orion Pictures.

==Democratic Party== Krim became an influential Democrat, head of the Democratic Party Financing Committee and advised Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter.<ref name="auto"/>

==Personal life== He was married to Mathilde Krim. He died in New York City in 1994, aged 84.<ref name=":0" />

Upon Nelson Mandela's release and subsequent freedom tour in 1990, Krim hosted a $1,000 per person cocktail party at his East Side townhouse where attendees hoped to greet the newly freed Mandela.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cortes |first=Ryan |date=2016-06-22 |title=#RememberWhensdays: Nelson Mandela visits Yankee Stadium |url=https://andscape.com/features/rememberwhensdays-nelson-mandela-visits-yankee-stadium/ |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=Andscape |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{IMDb name|1705363}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100611165434/http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/oralhistory.hom/Krim-A/Krim.asp Oral History Interviews with Arthur B. Krim, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library] * [https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/13341225 Arthur Krim papers, 1920 - 1990] at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York, NY

{{Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krim, Arthur B.}} Category:1910 births Category:1994 deaths Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American Jews Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:American entertainment lawyers Category:American film production company founders Category:American film studio executives Category:Businesspeople from Los Angeles Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winners Category:Jewish American military personnel Category:Military personnel from New York City Category:Military personnel from New York (state) Category:Orion Pictures Category:United States Army colonels Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:United Artists people