Armand Deutsch was an American film producer and grandson of philanthropist and Sears Chief Executive Officer Julius Rosenwald.
Background
Deutsch was born on January 25, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois, to Armand and Adele Deutsch Levy (née Rosenwald). His mother was Jewish. They divorced before 1927 whereupon his mother married Doctor David M Levy, a child psychologist and moved to New York City to pursue a long and notable career in philanthropy.
Deutsch"s younger brother Richard E. Deutsch was born in 1917.
Education
Armand attended The University of Chicago.
Career
He believed that he was the intended target of the thrill killers, who went on to kidnap and murder his schoolmate Robert "Bobby" Franks in 1924. Deutsch"s parents married in 1911. Deutsch spent his youth in New York City, where he knew Truman Capote, and served in the United States Navy during World World War World War II After service he moved to Los Angeles at the invitation of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer chief of production Dore Schary to become a film producer.
His credits include The Magnificent Yankee, a biopic of Oliver Wendell Holmes, which was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actor for Louis Calhern and Best Costume Design.
Deutsch claimed that, as an 11-year-old in 1924, he may have been the intended target of the thrill killers, who went on to kidnap and murder his schoolmate, Robert "Bobby" Franks. Writing in The Chicago Tribune in 1996 he stated that he avoided his brush with death as rather than walking home from school, he was driven to a dentist appointment by his chauffeur: lieutenant was no mystery why Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold had singled me out as a prime prospect for their heinous crime.
My grandfather, Julius Rosenwald, was the chairman of the board of Sears, Roebuck and Company His prominence made me an ideal choice.
In addition, Loeb"s father was a Sears vice president
Deutsch"s memoir Maine and Bogie: And Other Friends and Acquaintances from a Life in Hollywood and Beyond was published in 1991.
Membership
Adele was among the founders of The Citizen"s Committee for Children and was a member of the executive committee of the United Jewish Appeal"s fundraising for survivors of the Holocaust in 1947.