EDGAR GROSS

GROSS--Edgar Fleisher.

March 31, 1931 - October 16, 2016. Edgar F. Gross was an extraordinary man, brilliant of mind, generous of spirit, and possessed of incredible sense of humor. Ed was loved by all who knew him. He passed away peacefully on October 16, 2016, surrounded by his loving family. Edgar was the adoring husband of Marcellina, beloved father of Sheryl (Jonathan Sokoloff), Nicholas and Matthew (Hedi Gross) and devoted grandfather of Zachary, Emma, Lara and Teddy Sokoloff and Molly, Sam and Josh Gross. Edgar was the son of Sam and Janet Gross and brother of Barry Gross. Edgar was born in Philadelphia, PA, and moved to California with his family at the age of 16. A lifelong resident of Beverly Hills, he graduated Beverly Hills High School, class of 1949. He attended UC Berkeley, Phi Beta Kappa; graduated UCLA, class of 1953, and Harvard Law School, class of 1956. As a lawyer in California he clerked for the State Supreme Court, became partner at Winthrop, Erlich and Gross, ultimately working for I.H. Prinzmettle, and began working with Alfred Hitchcock and Gary Cooper. Eventually, he formed a law firm with his former Harvard Law School classmate and brother-in-law Bob Eisenstein. At the behest of their celebrity clients, they added "business management" to their legal services, forming International Business Management, one of the preeminent business management firms in the entertainment industry. Ed was a golfer, tennis player, swimmer, and fitness enthusiast. What he loved most was travelling with close friends and family. He was an avid reader and lifelong student, attending classes at UCLA Extension until the age of 85. Ed and his wife Marcy were married for 62 years, and were great patrons of the arts in Los Angeles, supporting The Music Center, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, LACMA, and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. They endowed major grants to Harvard Law School, founding a Professorial Chair. They also established an important grant for Alzheimer's research at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and were significant donors to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that Edgar's memory be honored with donations to SHARE, supporting the Exceptional Children's Foundation, www.share4children.org