{{short description|American film executive}} {{Use American English|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Matthew M. Fox | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = February 4, 1911 | birth_place = Racine, Wisconsin, U.S. | death_date = June 2, 1964 (aged 53) | death_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | resting_place = Racine, Wisconsin, U.S. | alma_mater = | occupation = Businessman | spouse = Yolande Betbeze (1954–1964; his death) | parents = | children = Yolande Dolly Fox | relatives = Paris Campbell Grace (granddaughter) }}

'''Matthew M. Fox''' (February 4, 1911 – June 2, 1964) was an American film and television executive.

== Early life == Fox was born on February 4, 1911, in Racine, Wisconsin.<ref name= journal>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date= June 3, 1964|title= Pay-TV Magnate Found Dead; Worked As Racine Theater Usher|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-journal-times-obituary-for-matthew-m/55956009/|work= The Journal Times|location= Racine, Wisconsin|access-date= August 31, 2024}}</ref> In his youth, he worked as an usher and doorman at the Rialto Theater in Racine.<ref name= journal/><ref name= nytimes/>

== Career == Fox began working at the age of 8 for the Rialto Theater in Racine, WI.<ref name="journal" /> While attending Lincoln High School in Milwaukee, at the age of 15, he was a booking agent for Tiffany Stahl and later became head usher and assistant manager of the Riverside Theater.<ref name="journal" />

In 1932 he moved to Long Island, NY, where he managed a movie house. He was eventually hired by movie mogul George Skouras as an assistant.

In 1938, after his brother-in-law Nate Blumberg became head of Universal Pictures, Fox relocated to Hollywood, California and was appointed the executive vice president of Universal Pictures, and board chairman of its subsidiary United World Films.<ref name="journal" /> In 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he left his role as vice president of Universal Pictures to serve the United States government.<ref name="nytimes" /> Fox joined the War Production Planning Commission and took charge of collecting scrap metal, old tires, and other discarded materials needed by defense industries.<ref name="nytimes" /> Fox later enlisted in the United States Army as a private and, by the end of World War II, was promoted to the rank of major.<ref name="nytimes" />

Fox returned to Universal in his former capacities. In 1948, Fox formed the international trade organization American-Indonesian Corporation. His company was terminated by the Indonesian government the following year, after Dutch rule ended, and he received a settlement of $550,000.<ref name= journal/> Because of his role in Indonesian trade, he was nicknamed the "economic godfather of Indonesia",<ref name= nytimes/> but the increasing pressure of his Indonesian activities forced him to resign from both Universal and United World in December 1950.<ref>''Variety'', Dec. 27, 1950, p. 5.</ref>

==Entrepreneur== By this time Matty Fox had cultivated a reputation as a brilliant, trail-blazing executive, noted for swinging many big-business deals. He pioneered syndicating films to television; his Motion Pictures for Television (MPTV) company was very successful, bringing hundreds of 1930s/1940s features to local TV stations. In 1955 Fox sold his MPTV interests to Reub Kaufman's Guild Films, another prominent syndicator,<ref>''Motion Picture Daily'', "Guild Films Acquires MPTV's Contracts; $13,000,000 Deal", Feb. 2, 1955, p. 6.</ref> in preparation of Fox's greatest coup.

In December 1955, in a bold move that stunned the entertainment industry, Matty Fox negotiated the purchase of the entire film backlog of RKO Radio Pictures, comprising 740 feature films and more than 1,000 short subjects.<ref>''Motion Picture Herald''. "RKO Sells Out Library to TV for $15,200,000", Dec. 31, 1955, p. 27.</ref> As president of C & C Television Corp., Fox made the RKO library available to local TV stations, selling 16mm film prints to the stations and granting them the right to broadcast the films in perpetuity. Some stations continue to show C & C prints today. The "C & C" stood for Cantrell and Cochrane, soft-drink manufacturers intent on advertising its C & C Cola during broadcasts of the C & C films.

Fox also introduced pay television in the United States, via his Skiatron of America company.<ref name= journal/> Fox's plan was to make major-league baseball games available to home viewers on a subscription basis. In 1959 the federal Securities and Exchange Commission suspended Skiatron's stock-trading privileges, after concluding that its operations were muddled and confused.<ref>''Film Bulletin'', Sept. 2, 1963, p. 10.</ref> Undaunted, Fox revived his plans for pay-TV baseball in 1963 with a new firm, Subscription Television, Inc. ''Film Bulletin'' commented at the time, "Matty Fox is a hard man to keep down. [His] dream of harnessing the airwaves has not been suppressed, and he is back again with a new pay-TV plan [with two baseball teams] to have 20,000 paying customers in each city by July 1, 1964."<ref>''Film Bulletin'', as above.</ref> Unfortunately Fox would not live to see his latest enterprise come to fruition.

== Personal life == In 1954, Fox married Yolande Betbeze, an opera singer and Miss America 1951.<ref name="People people">{{cite web|first1=Michelle |last1=Tauber |first2=Mike |last2=Neill |first3=Lisa |last3=Russell |first4=Joanne|last4=Fowler |first5=Julie |last5=Dam |first6=Alex |last6=Tresniowski |first7=Samantha |last7=Miller |first8=Steve |last8=Dougherty |first9=Ting |last9=Yu |title= American Beauties: 80 Years |work= People |url=https://people.com/archive/american-beauties-80-years-vol-54-no-16/ |date=October 16, 2000}}</ref> They had one daughter, Yolande "Dolly" Fox.<ref name="hsvt140909">{{cite news |first=Mia |last=Watkins |newspaper=The Huntsville Times |publisher=Advance Publications |location=Huntsville, AL |title=Yolande Betbeze Fox: Alabama's first Miss America reflects on title more than 60 years later |url=http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/09/yolande_betbeze_fox_alabamas_f.html |date=September 9, 2014 |access-date=June 10, 2015}}</ref>

On June 2, 1964, Fox died from a heart attack at his Park Avenue home.<ref name= nytimes/> A funeral service was held on June 3, 1964, at Riverside Memorial Chapel on the Upper West Side.<ref name= nytimes>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date= June 3, 1964|title= Matthew M. Fox, an Executive In Movies and TV, Dead at 53; Vice President of Universal at 25, He Was 'Economic Godfather of Indonesia'|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1964/06/03/archives/matthew-m-fox-an-executive-in-movies-and-tv-dead-at-53-vice.html|work= The New York Times|location= New York City, New York|access-date= August 31, 2024}}</ref> A graveside service conducted by Rabbi Hyman Cohen of Beth-Israel Sinai Temple was held on June 4, 1964, in Racine.<ref name= journal/>

== References == {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Matthew M.}} Category:1911 births Category:1964 deaths Category:20th-century American Jews Category:American film studio executives Category:American financial company founders Category:Businesspeople from Racine, Wisconsin Category:Jews from Wisconsin Category:Universal Pictures Category:United States Army officers Category:United States Army personnel of World War II