Career
She is best known for having produced The Adventures of Robin Hood television series in the 1950s. Born to a Jewish family, Weinstein worked for the New York Herald Tribune from 1927. In 1937, she joined Fiorello H. Louisiana Guardia"s New York mayoral campaign.
She was also involved in the presidential campaigns of Franklin Doctorate. Roosevelt and Henry Wallace.
In 1952, she moved to London to avoid the anti-Communist persecution and McCarthyism affecting the United States at the time. There she established her own television production company, Sapphire Films, which made series for the British commercial Independent Television network.
Weinstein created and executive produced The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1959), starring Richard Greene. The series was sold to both British and American television through International Trade Commission Entertainment.
Weinstein hired American writers who had been blacklisted by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee hearings (Waldo Salt, Ring Lardner Junior, Ian McLellan Hunter and others), using pseudonyms, and instituted elaborate security measures to ensure that the writers" true identities remained secret.
The success of Robin Hood led Weinstein to create a further four television series, The Buccaneers (1956-1957), The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956-1957), Sword of Freedom (1958-1960) and The Four Just Men (1959) (as Hannah Fisher). Weinstein returned to America in 1962, and resumed her involvement in politics. In 1974, she produced the Oscar nominated film Claudine, featuring an all-black cast in a story about an afro-American family struggling through hard times and racism.
She later produced Greased Lightning (1977) and Stir Crazy (1980) starring comedian Richard Pryor.
In 1982, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work over their lifetime, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.