Samuel William Gelfman ’53

Born in Brooklyn, Sam grew up in New Jersey and came to Princeton from Grover Cleveland High School in Caldwell, N.J.

After flunking out and spending time in the Army in Korea, Sam returned to Princeton, where he joined Tiger Inn, played 150-pound football, and was captain in his senior year. He majored in architecture and wrote a senior thesis on “Alaskan Building.”

Somehow all of that led to a career in show business. Sam went to New York and went to work for a talent agency, which led him into off-Broadway theater that led somehow to Hollywood. In 1974 he was producer for Caged Heat, about women in prison. He was a producer and actor for Cannonball and Born to Kill. Later he moved to Los Angeles, where he established the Australian Film Office and helped promote releases of films like Newsfront, My Brilliant Career, Gallipoli, The Last Wave, and Mad Max. At various times Sam also represented Joseph Heller, Philip Roth, Ring Lardner Jr., Bernard Malamud, George Plimpton, and many others.

Sam died Aug. 15, 2019, of heart and respiratory disease at UCLA Hospital in Westwood, Calif. He is survived by his former wife, Jane Gelfman; three children; and three grandchildren.