Arnon Milchan
Encyclopedia
Arnon Milchan is a film producer
, Israeli intelligence agent, and arms dealer. Milchan produced many film
s such as The War of the Roses
, Once Upon a Time in America
, Pretty Woman
, Natural Born Killers
, Under Siege
, The Devil's Advocate, The Fountain
, Unfaithful
, L.A. Confidential
and many others. He is an Israel
i citizen.
, British Mandate for Palestine, today's Israel, in 1944, to a father who owned a fertilizer company, which Milchan turned into a successful chemical business. He also earned a degree from the London School of Economics
.
Milchan became involved in the American movie business in 1977. Most notable among his film collaborations was his work with Martin Scorsese
. He developed close friendships with Robert De Niro, director Roman Polanski, and directors Sergio Leone, Terry Gilliam and Oliver Stone. Milchan started his own production company in 1991 called New Regency Productions
. Through his company, in partnership with Rupert Murdoch at 20th Century Fox, and other business ventures Milchan has attained a net worth
estimated at about $4 billion as of 2011, and is listed as the 268th richest person in the world by Forbes
.
Arnon Milchan has produced many classic films such as Once Upon a Time in America
(1984) (in which he also makes a cameo appearance
as the chauffeur
), Brazil
(1985), Pretty Woman
(1990), Under Siege
(1992), Natural Born Killers
(1994), Boys on the Side
(1995), L.A. Confidential
(1997), Unfaithful
(2002), and Knight and Day (2010), among others.
Speculation about Milchan's involvement in arms dealing was sparked after "the indictment in 1985 of Richard Kelly Smyth, an aerospace executive who had made illegal shipments of nuclear triggers through Milchan companies." This remained hearsay until biographers Meir Doron
and Joseph Gelman confirmed in a book published July 2011, that Milchan was involved in espionage and arms-dealing. The research in Confidential - The Life Of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon established that "at least through the mid-1980s [Milchan] was a full-fledged operative for Israel’s top-secret intelligence agency, Lakam. His activities included "buying components to build and maintain Israel’s nuclear arsenal" and supervising "government-backed accounts and front companies that financed the special needs of the entirety of Israel’s intelligence operations outside the country.". Interviewed regarding Milchan's intelligence activities, President Shimon Peres stated:
"Arnon is a special man. It was I who recruited him.... When I was at the Ministry of Defense, Arnon was involved in numerous defense-related procurment activities and intelligence operations. His strength is in making connections at the highest levels.... His activities gave us a huge advantage, strategically, diplomatically and technologically." (interview dated Feb. 8, 2010, documented in Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman's "Confidential: Secret Agent turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan" p. xi)
Milchan is also noted for being a strong supporter of Israel. He is a personal friend of Israeli President Shimon Peres
and underwrites the Israeli Network
which transmits Israeli television programming to the United States
and Canada
via cable
and satellite
TV.
Milchan is the owner of the WTA broadcasting rights and is married to former South African tennis professional Amanda Coetzer
.
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, Israeli intelligence agent, and arms dealer. Milchan produced many film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s such as The War of the Roses
The War of The Roses
The War of the Roses is a novel by Warren Adler.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806E0D91138F93BA15755C0A967948260-Plot introduction:...
, Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 Italian epic crime film co-written and directed by Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The story chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City's world of organized crime...
, Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...
, Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers is a 1994 crime/black comedy film directed by Oliver Stone about two victims of traumatic childhoods who became lovers and psychopathic serial killers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media...
, Under Siege
Under Siege
Under Siege is a 1992 American action film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Steven Seagal as a former Navy SEAL who must stop a group of mercenaries, led by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey, on a U.S. Navy battleship...
, The Devil's Advocate, The Fountain
The Fountain
The Fountain is a 2006 American romantic drama film, which blends elements of fantasy, history, religion, and science fiction. It was directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starred Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz...
, Unfaithful
Unfaithful
Unfaithful may refer to:* The act of having an affair* Unfaithful , a silent shot film directed by Thomas H. Ince and Charles Miller* Unfaithful , directed by John Cromwell* The Unfaithful, a 1947 film noir...
, L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential (film)
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...
and many others. He is an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i citizen.
Life and career
Milchan was born in RehovotRehovot
Rehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...
, British Mandate for Palestine, today's Israel, in 1944, to a father who owned a fertilizer company, which Milchan turned into a successful chemical business. He also earned a degree from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
Milchan became involved in the American movie business in 1977. Most notable among his film collaborations was his work with Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
. He developed close friendships with Robert De Niro, director Roman Polanski, and directors Sergio Leone, Terry Gilliam and Oliver Stone. Milchan started his own production company in 1991 called New Regency Productions
New Regency Productions
New Regency Productions is a production company founded in 1991 by Arnon Milchan and a subsidiary of Regency Enterprises.It is located on the 20th Century Fox lot, and Fox is the current distributor of Regency releases since 1998, but is a wholly independent company. Warner Bros. Pictures was the...
. Through his company, in partnership with Rupert Murdoch at 20th Century Fox, and other business ventures Milchan has attained a net worth
Net worth
In business, net worth is the total assets minus total outside liabilities of an individual or a company. For a company, this is called shareholders' preference and may be referred to as book value. Net worth is stated as at a particular year in time...
estimated at about $4 billion as of 2011, and is listed as the 268th richest person in the world by Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
.
Arnon Milchan has produced many classic films such as Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 Italian epic crime film co-written and directed by Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The story chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City's world of organized crime...
(1984) (in which he also makes a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as the chauffeur
Chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
), Brazil
Brazil (film)
Brazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy/black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard and stars Jonathan Pryce. The film also features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm...
(1985), Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...
(1990), Under Siege
Under Siege
Under Siege is a 1992 American action film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Steven Seagal as a former Navy SEAL who must stop a group of mercenaries, led by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey, on a U.S. Navy battleship...
(1992), Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers is a 1994 crime/black comedy film directed by Oliver Stone about two victims of traumatic childhoods who became lovers and psychopathic serial killers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media...
(1994), Boys on the Side
Boys on the Side
Boys on the Side is a 1995 comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross . It stars Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and Mary-Louise Parker as three friends on a cross-country road trip...
(1995), L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...
(1997), Unfaithful
Unfaithful
Unfaithful may refer to:* The act of having an affair* Unfaithful , a silent shot film directed by Thomas H. Ince and Charles Miller* Unfaithful , directed by John Cromwell* The Unfaithful, a 1947 film noir...
(2002), and Knight and Day (2010), among others.
Speculation about Milchan's involvement in arms dealing was sparked after "the indictment in 1985 of Richard Kelly Smyth, an aerospace executive who had made illegal shipments of nuclear triggers through Milchan companies." This remained hearsay until biographers Meir Doron
Meir Doron
Meir Doron was born November 26, 1954, in Rehovot, Israel. He is an editor, journalist and publisher, and is the author of several books and award-winning screenplays. He resides in Los Angeles, California.-Career:...
and Joseph Gelman confirmed in a book published July 2011, that Milchan was involved in espionage and arms-dealing. The research in Confidential - The Life Of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon established that "at least through the mid-1980s [Milchan] was a full-fledged operative for Israel’s top-secret intelligence agency, Lakam. His activities included "buying components to build and maintain Israel’s nuclear arsenal" and supervising "government-backed accounts and front companies that financed the special needs of the entirety of Israel’s intelligence operations outside the country.". Interviewed regarding Milchan's intelligence activities, President Shimon Peres stated:
"Arnon is a special man. It was I who recruited him.... When I was at the Ministry of Defense, Arnon was involved in numerous defense-related procurment activities and intelligence operations. His strength is in making connections at the highest levels.... His activities gave us a huge advantage, strategically, diplomatically and technologically." (interview dated Feb. 8, 2010, documented in Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman's "Confidential: Secret Agent turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan" p. xi)
Milchan is also noted for being a strong supporter of Israel. He is a personal friend of Israeli President Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
and underwrites the Israeli Network
Israeli Network
The Israeli Network is an international private television network, owned by Arnon Milchan. It launched September 2001 and features programming from all the top networks in Israel including Channel 1, Channel 2, Channel 10, Channel 8, Israeli Educational Television, Children's Channel, Hop! and...
which transmits Israeli television programming to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
via cable
Cable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
and satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
TV.
Milchan is the owner of the WTA broadcasting rights and is married to former South African tennis professional Amanda Coetzer
Amanda Coetzer
Amanda Coetzer is a former professional tennis player from South Africa.Coetzer turned professional in 1988 and retired in 2004...
.
Other sources and references
-
- Gelman, Joseph (author) (2011) Confidential The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon - Arnon Milchan Gefen Books, NY. ISBN 9780615433813