Charles Bluhdorn
Encyclopedia
Charles Blühdorn was a Vienna
, Austria
-born American
industrialist.
, earning $15 a week.
Three years later, he formed a company that would make him a millionaire at 30; in 1956, he acquired Michigan Bumper, a small auto parts company that eventually grew into Gulf+Western
Industries, a conglomerate that ranked 61st in the Fortune 500
by 1981.
Subholdings of Gulf+Western were blue chip names such as Paramount Pictures
(acquired in 1966), Madison Square Garden
, and Simon & Schuster
publishing as well as less glamorous holdings such as mining, New Jersey Zinc Company
. It was during Gulf and Western's ownership of Paramount that it went from being Number 9 at the boxoffice, based upon total receipt sales, to number 1 with such hits as The Godfather
and Chinatown.
In 1974 he hired Barry Diller
as Paramount's chairman and chief executive. Making Diller, at age 32, the youngest studio chief ever and the first to come from the TV business.
Blühdorn was known to be an incredibly energetic workaholic once dubbed "The Mad Austrian of Wall Street." He maintained his position as chairman of Gulf+Western Industries until his death. He was also infamous (and widely imitated) for his cement-thick Austrian accent, which has been lampooned in interviews by former collaborators such as Francis Ford Coppola
and Robert Evans
.
He died of a heart attack on his private jet while returning to the United States from his Casa de Campo
resort in the Dominican Republic
.
While Jewish by birth, his private funeral services were held at St. Mary's Church in Ridgefield, Connecticut
. Among those who attended was friend and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
.
At Tufts University
in Boston, there is the Charles G. Bluhdorn Prize in Economics, awarded annually to an undergraduate majoring in economics who has demonstrated outstanding scholastic ability. This prize was founded in 1983 by Donald Gaston in memory of Charles G. Bluhdorn.
Blühdorn's rocky relationship with appointed Paramount executive Robert Evans
was documented in Evans' 1994 biographical book The Kid Stays in the Picture
and in the 2002 film of the same title. Bluhdorn initially hired Evans in 1966 to head European production for Paramount Pictures. He would promote Evans almost immediately to head of production at Paramount Pictures.
The 1990 film The Godfather: Part III was dedicated in his memory, "for inspiring it."
In 1967 Gulf+Western paid $54 million for South Puerto Rico Sugar Company. Most of the company's operations were in the Dominican Republic, where it owned the extensive Central Romana sugar mill in La Romana and 300000 acres (1,214.1 km²) of land. Nearly half of the land was used to produce sugar cane and, at the peak of the cane-cutting season, the company employed 19,000 people, making it the country's largest private employer as well as the largest taxpayer and landowner.
Gulf+Western acquired Consolidated Cigar in 1968 and shifted the Canary Island cigar-making operation to La Romana.
As Gulf+Western had purchased Paramount in 1966, Bluhdorn had plans to turn the island into a moviemaking mecca. For that purpose he constantly invited producers, directors, writers and movie stars so they could appreciate the natural beauty of the country.
In 1975 Gulf+Western developed 7000 acres (28.3 km²) of the sugar mill's land into the Casa de Campo resort. Casa de Campo is home to three internationally renowned courses designed by Pete Dye
- Teeth of the Dog, Dye Fore and Links.
One of Bluhdorn's Dominican friends, Oscar de la Renta
, was hired to do interior design for Casa De Campo and licensed his men's wear line through Kayser-Roth
.
Kayser-Roth (a division of Gulf+Western), owned the Miss Universe
pageant via its acquisition of Pacific Mills. Pacific Mills had invented the pageant to sell its Catalina Swimwear
brand. Miss Universe 1977
was held in the Dominican Republic in order to promote tourism to this island.
Former Paramount Studios set designer Roberto Copa designed the artist village of Altos de Chavón
in 1976 and it was built by Buldhorn in the early 1980s. Bluhdorn's daughter, Dominique, is the current president of the Altos de Chavón Cultural Center.
Altos de Chavón also has a 5,000 seat open air Greek style amphitheatre, which was inaugurated in 1982 by Frank Sinatra with The Concert for the Americas
. Bluhdorn had Paramount Pictures record the concert so it could be shown all over the world. Viewers
could see the Altos de Chavón artist village, the beauty of the landscapes, beaches and
golf courses of Casa de Campo.
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
industrialist.
Biography
Per a Who's Who in Ridgefield (CT) he was considered such a "hellion" that his father sent the 11-year-old to an English boarding school for disciplining. At 16, he came to New York, studying at City College and Columbia and, in 1946, went to work at the Cotton ExchangeNew York Cotton Exchange
The New York Cotton Exchange was a commodities exchange founded in 1870 by a group of one hundred cotton brokers and merchants at 1 Hanover Square in New York City.- History :...
, earning $15 a week.
Three years later, he formed a company that would make him a millionaire at 30; in 1956, he acquired Michigan Bumper, a small auto parts company that eventually grew into Gulf+Western
Gulf+Western
Gulf and Western Industries, Inc., for a number of years known as Gulf+Western, was an American conglomerate.- History :Gulf and Western's prosaic origins date to a manufacturer named Michigan Bumper Co. founded in 1934, though Charles Bluhdorn treated his 1958 takeover of what was then Michigan...
Industries, a conglomerate that ranked 61st in the Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
by 1981.
Subholdings of Gulf+Western were blue chip names such as Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
(acquired in 1966), Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, and Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
publishing as well as less glamorous holdings such as mining, New Jersey Zinc Company
New Jersey Zinc Company
The Horsehead Corporation , formerly the New Jersey Zinc Company, is an American producer of zinc and related materials.The New Jersey Zinc Company was for many years the largest producer of zinc and zinc products in the United States. The company thrived in the period from 1897 to 1966, at which...
. It was during Gulf and Western's ownership of Paramount that it went from being Number 9 at the boxoffice, based upon total receipt sales, to number 1 with such hits as The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
and Chinatown.
In 1974 he hired Barry Diller
Barry Diller
Barry Charles Diller is the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and the media executive responsible for the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting.-Early life:...
as Paramount's chairman and chief executive. Making Diller, at age 32, the youngest studio chief ever and the first to come from the TV business.
Blühdorn was known to be an incredibly energetic workaholic once dubbed "The Mad Austrian of Wall Street." He maintained his position as chairman of Gulf+Western Industries until his death. He was also infamous (and widely imitated) for his cement-thick Austrian accent, which has been lampooned in interviews by former collaborators such as Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
and Robert Evans
Robert Evans (film producer)
Robert Evans is an American film producer, best known for his work on Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, The Godfather, and Chinatown.-Early life and acting career:...
.
He died of a heart attack on his private jet while returning to the United States from his Casa de Campo
Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic
In 1975 Gulf+Western developed of its Central Romana sugar mill's land into the Casa de Campo resort. Situated in La Romana on the southeast coast of the Dominican Republic, Casa de Campo is a Ponderosa-style, tropical seaside resort.The first to enjoy the luxuries of this enclave were friends of...
resort in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
.
While Jewish by birth, his private funeral services were held at St. Mary's Church in Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 24,638 at the 2010 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S...
. Among those who attended was friend and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
.
At Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
in Boston, there is the Charles G. Bluhdorn Prize in Economics, awarded annually to an undergraduate majoring in economics who has demonstrated outstanding scholastic ability. This prize was founded in 1983 by Donald Gaston in memory of Charles G. Bluhdorn.
Blühdorn's rocky relationship with appointed Paramount executive Robert Evans
Robert Evans (film producer)
Robert Evans is an American film producer, best known for his work on Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, The Godfather, and Chinatown.-Early life and acting career:...
was documented in Evans' 1994 biographical book The Kid Stays in the Picture
The Kid Stays in the Picture
The Kid Stays in the Picture is the name of a 1994 autobiography by film producer Robert Evans. It is also the name of a 2002 film adaptation of the book directed by Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen and released by Focus Features and USA Pictures...
and in the 2002 film of the same title. Bluhdorn initially hired Evans in 1966 to head European production for Paramount Pictures. He would promote Evans almost immediately to head of production at Paramount Pictures.
The 1990 film The Godfather: Part III was dedicated in his memory, "for inspiring it."
Dominican Republic
Charles Bluhdorn was very passionate about his projects for this island. He invested a lot of resources into its social and economic development. Bluhdorn is credited as being the father of the Dominican tourism industry.In 1967 Gulf+Western paid $54 million for South Puerto Rico Sugar Company. Most of the company's operations were in the Dominican Republic, where it owned the extensive Central Romana sugar mill in La Romana and 300000 acres (1,214.1 km²) of land. Nearly half of the land was used to produce sugar cane and, at the peak of the cane-cutting season, the company employed 19,000 people, making it the country's largest private employer as well as the largest taxpayer and landowner.
Gulf+Western acquired Consolidated Cigar in 1968 and shifted the Canary Island cigar-making operation to La Romana.
As Gulf+Western had purchased Paramount in 1966, Bluhdorn had plans to turn the island into a moviemaking mecca. For that purpose he constantly invited producers, directors, writers and movie stars so they could appreciate the natural beauty of the country.
- Godfather Part II (1974) - the scenes that took place in Cuba were shot in Santo Domingo.
- SorcererSorcerer (film)Sorcerer is a 1977 thriller adventure film, produced and directed by William Friedkin, starring Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal and Amidou. It is the second remake of the 1953 French film Le Salaire de la Peur ....
(1977) - produced under rugged conditions in the jungles of the Dominican Republic - Apocalypse NowApocalypse NowApocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
(1979) - some scenes were filmed on the Chavón RiverChavón River- Film shot on the Chavón River :* 1976-1977: Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola-References:* The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. 2000.**...
In 1975 Gulf+Western developed 7000 acres (28.3 km²) of the sugar mill's land into the Casa de Campo resort. Casa de Campo is home to three internationally renowned courses designed by Pete Dye
Pete Dye
Paul B. "Pete" Dye is a world-renowned golf course designer and a member of a famous family of course designers. He is married to fellow designer and former amateur champion Alice Dye.-Early life:Pete Dye was born in Urbana, Ohio...
- Teeth of the Dog, Dye Fore and Links.
One of Bluhdorn's Dominican friends, Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta is one of the world's leading fashion designers. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.-Career:...
, was hired to do interior design for Casa De Campo and licensed his men's wear line through Kayser-Roth
Kayser-Roth
Kayser-Roth Corporation is an intimate apparel and hosiery manufacturer based in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company currently markets two brands in North America, No Nonsense and HUE.-History:...
.
Kayser-Roth (a division of Gulf+Western), owned the Miss Universe
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....
pageant via its acquisition of Pacific Mills. Pacific Mills had invented the pageant to sell its Catalina Swimwear
Catalina swimwear
Catalina is one of the oldest apparel manufacturers in California and one of the best known names in the swimwear industry. Their history began in 1907, as Bentz Knitting Mills, a small manufacturer of underwear and sweaters. The name was changed to Pacific Knitting Mills in 1912, accompanied by...
brand. Miss Universe 1977
Miss Universe 1977
Miss Universe 1977, the 26th annual Miss Universe pageant was held at the National Theater, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on July 16, 1977. 24-year-old Janelle Commissiong earned Trinidad & Tobago its first Miss Universe crown as well as becoming the first black woman to win the title...
was held in the Dominican Republic in order to promote tourism to this island.
Former Paramount Studios set designer Roberto Copa designed the artist village of Altos de Chavón
Altos de Chavón
The biggest attraction in La Romana, Dominican Republic, is Altos de Chavón, a re-creation of a medieval European village conceived from the imagination of Roberto Copa, a former Paramount Studios set designer, and Charles Bluhdorn....
in 1976 and it was built by Buldhorn in the early 1980s. Bluhdorn's daughter, Dominique, is the current president of the Altos de Chavón Cultural Center.
Altos de Chavón also has a 5,000 seat open air Greek style amphitheatre, which was inaugurated in 1982 by Frank Sinatra with The Concert for the Americas
Concert for the Americas
The Concert for the Americas was a music festival held on August 20, 1982 in the Dominican Republic. It was held at the Altos de Chavón Amphitheater, a 5000-seat open-air Greek-style amphitheater located about two hours east of Santo Domingo, that was inaugurated by the festival.Performers...
. Bluhdorn had Paramount Pictures record the concert so it could be shown all over the world. Viewers
could see the Altos de Chavón artist village, the beauty of the landscapes, beaches and
golf courses of Casa de Campo.
Property
- Casa de Campo, an hour away from Santo Domingo, was a 7000 acres (28.3 km²) exclusive retreat founded by Bluhdorn in 1974. His wife, Yvette, would sell the property after his death 1984 to The Fanjul BrothersThe Fanjul BrothersThe Fanjul brothers — Alfonso "Alfy" Fanjul, José "Pepe" Fanjul, Alexander Fanjul, and Andres Fanjul — are owners of Fanjul Corp., a vast sugar and real estate conglomerate in the United States and Dominican Republic, comprising the subsidiaries Domino Sugar, , C&H Sugar, Redpath Sugar, Tate & Lyle...
of Palm Beach, FloridaPalm Beach, FloridaThe Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
.
- In February 2007 the Bedford, New YorkBedford (town), New YorkBedford is a town in Westchester County, New York, USA. The population was 17,335 at the 2010 census.The Town of Bedford is located in the northeastern part of Westchester County, and contains the three hamlets of Bedford Hills, Bedford Village, and Katonah...
estate of his late wife, Yvette, was put on the market for the highest price ever asked for a Westchester County residence. Acquired in 1990 with 25 acres (101,171.5 m²), Mrs. Bluhdorn expanded the estate to 70 acres (283,280.2 m²). It included a restored 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²), 23-room Georgian mansion built in the 1920s, another six-bedroom home of 8000 square feet (743.2 m²), several guest houses and two pools.
Family Legacy
- In 2007, Charles Bluhdorn's son and daughter-in-law, Paul and Paige Bluhdorn, continued the family interest in the Dominican Republic with the launch of eatdrinksleep.com, a travel and lifestyle guide to the Dominican Republic with a strong focus on Altos de ChavónAltos de ChavónThe biggest attraction in La Romana, Dominican Republic, is Altos de Chavón, a re-creation of a medieval European village conceived from the imagination of Roberto Copa, a former Paramount Studios set designer, and Charles Bluhdorn....
and other local accomplishments of Charles Bluhdorn.
- A portion of Charles Bluhdorn's fortune continues with the Charles G. & Yvette Bluhdorn Charitable Trust. As of December 2005 it was reporting $2,396,383 in assets. [via Form 990 IRS]