{{Short description|American businessman and entrepreneur (1902–1987)}} {{Infobox person | name = Michael Redstone | image = Michael Redstone in 1947 (cropped).jpg | caption = Redstone in 1947 | birth_name = Max Rothstein | birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|4|11}}<ref>SSDI entry for Michael Redstone.</ref> | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1987|4|4|1902|4|11}} | death_place = Bal Harbour, Florida, U.S. | occupation = Businessman; theater owner | spouse = Belle Ostrovsky Redstone | children = 2, including Sumner Redstone }}
'''Michael "Mickey" Redstone''' (born '''Max Rothstein''';<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q282-S33T|title=Max Rohtstein and Bella Ostrovsky, 14 Dec 1921|website=FamilySearch }}</ref> April 11, 1902 – April 4, 1987) was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Northeast Theater Corporation, later National Amusements, Inc. which became Paramount Skydance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/16/us/sumner-redstone-fast-facts/index.html|title = Sumner Redstone Fast Facts| website=CNN |date = 16 May 2013}}</ref>
==Biography== Redstone was born on April 11, 1902, in Boston, Massachusetts.<ref name=BostonGlobeObit>[https://archive.today/20130125035659/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8005517.html Boston Globe: "MICHAEL REDSTONE, OWNED THEATERS, LATIN QUARTER NIGHTCLUB; AT 85] April 6, 1987</ref> Born Max Rothstein, at his son Sumner's behest, he later changed the family name to "Redstone" to avoid association with Jewish gambling boss Arnold Rothstein.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title=1902: The Boston Trucker Who Founded the Firm That Swallowed Up CBS and Viacom Is Born|language=en|work=Haaretz|url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2016-04-11/ty-article/.premium/1902-patriarch-of-lawsuit-happy-redstone-family-is-born/0000017f-f622-d044-adff-f7fb5f8b0000|access-date=2022-01-12}}</ref>
Redstone dropped out of high school to pursue his first business venture, buying a truck and securing a trucking contract with the City of Boston. During this period, he became close with local gambling boss Harry "Doc" Sagansky.<ref name=":0" /> In 1934, Redstone and Sagansky started a Boston nightclub, the Mayfair, and purchased a drive-in theater in Valley Stream, Long Island. Both ventures were funded by Sagansky, who contributed "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to Redstone's businesses.<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{Cite news|last=Lee|first=Edmund|date=2020-08-12|title=Sumner Redstone, Hollywood Brawler|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/business/media/sumner-redstone-legacy.html|access-date=2022-01-12|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Belfanti|first=Sebastian|title=» Harry J. "Doc" SaganskyThe West End Museum|date=17 November 2021 |url=https://thewestendmuseum.org/article/harry-j-doc-sagansky/|access-date=2022-01-12|language=en-US}}</ref> The pair also started a Massachusetts loan company, and opened an additional night club, the Latin Quarter, in 1943.<ref name="BostonGlobeObit" /><ref name=":1" />
In 1936, Redstone established the Northeast Theater Corporation, which grew rapidly as Redstone purchased land throughout the northeast and built new drive-in theaters.<ref name="BostonGlobeObit" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Family Feud|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/1112/108.html|access-date=2022-01-12|website=Forbes|language=en}}</ref> His first in Massachusetts, the Dedham Drive-In, opened on August 11, 1948, though others in the state quickly followed.<ref name=75years>{{cite web|url=https://dedhamtales.com/2023/08/11/75-years-ago-the-dedham-drive-in-opens-part-1/ | title = 75 Years Ago: The Dedham Drive-in Opens: Part 1 | date = August 11, 2023| accessdate = August 15, 2023 | last =Parr | first = Jim | publisher = Dedham Tales }}</ref>
By 1954, when his son Sumner left his job to work for the company, Redstone owned three drive-in theaters and had hired his son Edward to help with the business.<ref name=":2" /> On August 28, 1959, Northeast was reincorporated as National Amusements, Inc. to consolidate the family's ownership interests and make it easier to obtain financing.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-08-05|title=The Family Redstone: multibillion history of dysfunction|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/the-family-redstone-multibillion-history-of-dysfunction/|access-date=2022-01-12|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite court|litigants=Estate of Edward S. Redstone, Deceased, Madeline M. Redstone, Executrix v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue|court=United States Tax Court|reporter=T.C.|vol=11|opinion=145|date=2015|url=http://trustsandestates.bbablogs.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2015/12/Estate-of-Redstone-v.-Commissioner-145-T.C.-No.-11.pdf}}</ref>
His son, Sumner Redstone, grew National Amusements into one of the largest media conglomerates in the United States, owning one of the three broadcast networks in CBS, the cable television and content provider Viacom (which includes MTV Networks and BET), and the movie studio Paramount Pictures. CBS and Viacom were equal partners in MovieTickets.com.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.national-amusements.com National Amusements]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Redstone, Michael}} Category:1902 births Category:1987 deaths Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American Jews Category:American businesspeople in the entertainment industry Category:Businesspeople from Boston Category:Film exhibitors Category:Jewish American film people Category:Jews from Massachusetts Michael