Meyer Gottlieb, a Holocaust survivor who led Samuel Goldwyn Films and produced notable movies like Master and Commander, has died at the age of 86. Sources confirmed the news but provided no details on the cause. Gottlieb's career spanned decades in independent film, marked by integrity and a commitment to repairing the world after his wartime experiences.
Meyer Gottlieb, born in Poland in 1939 just as Nazi forces invaded, endured profound loss during World War II. At age 3 or 4, he witnessed his father bury his infant brother in Ukrainian woods before the elder Gottlieb was conscripted by the Russian military to fight the Germans—a separation from which he never returned. "I have no memories of joyous events," Gottlieb reflected in a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "The first real memories of a childhood I have are after I came to America." He later described hatred, intolerance, and bigotry as the true weapons of mass destruction.
After immigrating to the United States, Gottlieb built a distinguished career in Hollywood. In 1978, he partnered with Samuel Goldwyn Jr. to revive The Samuel Goldwyn Company. By 1988, he served as its president and chief operating officer. The company faced acquisitions by Orion Pictures and MGM in the 1990s, leading to the 2000 launch of Samuel Goldwyn Films under Gottlieb's leadership. Based in Culver City, the venture focused on independent and foreign films, producing or distributing hundreds, including The Big Blue, Me Without You, last year's The Count of Monte Cristo, and this year's Venice-premiering The Last Viking.
Gottlieb's producing credits include the 2003 epic Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the 2013 remake The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 2001's Tortilla Soup, and the 1990s TV series Flipper. He also championed Rosenstrasse, Margarethe von Trotta's 2003 drama about the 1943 Berlin protests where non-Jewish women secured the release of about 1,800 Jewish husbands from Nazi detention.
"As a [Holocaust] survivor, you have to prove that there is a reason for your existence," Gottlieb told The Hollywood Reporter. "You are driven to justify the fact that you survived what others did not. And part of that justification is to do something that will help repair the world."
Tributes poured in following his death. Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tom Rothman, who once worked under Gottlieb, said: "Meyer was a gentleman of the old school. I was fortunate to work for him when he ran the Samuel Goldwyn Company, in the heyday of independent film. I learned an enormous amount from him—most importantly, that it is possible to make a life in Hollywood without sacrificing integrity and honesty, both of which he embodied entirely, along with smarts, wisdom and kindness."
