Background
Hirschfield was born to a Jewish family in New York on October 10, 1935, to Norman and Betty Hirschfield. The family moved to Oklahoma City when he was 3-years old, where his father worked for Allen & Company"s natural gas operations.
Hirschfield was born to a Jewish family in New York on October 10, 1935, to Norman and Betty Hirschfield. The family moved to Oklahoma City when he was 3-years old, where his father worked for Allen & Company"s natural gas operations.
Harvard Business School. University of Oklahoma.
Hirschfield served as the Chief Executive Officer of Columbia Pictures from 1973 to 1978 and the chairman of 20th Century Fox from 1982 until 1986. Outside of the film industry, Hirschfield helped Clive Davis establish Arista Records in the 1970s. Alan Hirschfield received a bachelor"s degree from the University of Oklahoma and a master"s degree from Harvard Business School.
In 1973, again after Allen & Company took a financial stake in Columbia Pictures, Hirschfield was appointed Chief Executive Officer serving in that position from 1973 to 1978.
In 1978, Hirschfield was forced out of Columbia Pictures for his refusal to reinstate David Begelman, a studio executive who had embezzled $61,000 from Columbia, citing moral grounds. In 1981, Hirschfield was hired by Marvin Davis to be the chairman of 20th Century Fox.
He resigned in 1984 and was replaced by Barry Diller. From 1990 to 1992, Alan Hirschfield served as a co-Chief Executive Officer and investment banker for the former Financial News Network.
He was also the co-Chief Executive Officer of the Data Broadcasting Corporation from 1992 to 2000.
The Begelman embezzlement and its aftermath were the subject of the best-selling 1982 non-fiction book "Indecent Exposure" by David McClintick. In 1962, Hirschfield Berte Schindelheim. They had three children: Scott Hirschfield.
Marc Hirschfield.
And Laura Hirschfield. Hirschfield died from natural causes at his home in Wilson, Wyoming, on January 15, 2015, at the age of 79.
In 1992 he opposed attorney Gerry Spence"s decision to defend Randy Weaver on false charges laid following the Ruby Ridge siege.