LEONARD B. KAUFMAN

Born on August 31, 1924 in Newark, New Jersey. Died on May 24, 2009 at the Motion Picture & Television Fund Home of Alzheimer's Desease.

Kaufman attended New York University and moved to Los Angeles in 1948. He began what became an illustrious career in entertainment public relations, working for Rogers and Cowan. During that time he represented Joan Crawford, Jane Wyman and many more.

In 1953-54 he started his own firm, soon partnering with screenwriter Robert C. Lewin, later Marvin Schwartz. The Beverly Hills fi rm was known as Lewin/Kaufman/Schwartz.

In the glamour of Hollywood of the '50s and '60s, he was one of the entertainment industry's premier publicists, representing Cary Grant, Burt Lancaster, Ella Fitzgerald, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters, Fred Zinneman, Jimmie Rodgers, David Janssen, Cloris Leachman, Robert Stack, as well as many United Artists films such as "The Misfits" and "Birdman of Alcatraz." He was dedicated, respected with a great sense of humor!

When L/K/S dissolved, Kaufman became a producer forging a long list of credits, including "Flipper"; "Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion"; "Gentle Ben"; "Hawaii Five-O"; "Daktari"; "O'Hara, US Treasury", "Sea Hunt," "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams," "Archer," Jack Webb's "Sam" TV series, the mini-series "Scruples" among others. He was the writer on "Dukes of Hazzard" and others. Many of these were about animals, a natural for Kaufman, who loved them. His own pets were a German shepherd, Genghis, and later another named Luka.

His marriage to Polly Stevens ended in divorce. His second marriage was to actress Doris Dowling ("The Lost Weekend," "The Blue Dahlia," "Bitter Rice"). She died June 18, 2004.

His brother Julian Kaufman, San Diego, survives him.

Burial was private. A memorial will be held June 9. For information, call 310/475-1222.

Contributions are suggested to the Motion Picture and Television Fund Home, in Leonard B. Kaufman's memory.

(photo by Murray Garrett)