Walter Annenberg

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Walter Annenberg (center) and his wife Leonore with Ronald Reagan 1981

Walter Hubert Annenberg , KBE (born March 13, 1908 in Milwaukee , Wisconsin , † October 1, 2002 in Wynnewood , Pennsylvania ) was an American diplomat , publisher and art patron .

Life

Walter Annenberg was the only son of the couple Moses “Moe” and Sarah “Sadie” Cecelia Annenberg, née Friedman, (1879-1965), who was born in New York City . Father Moses Annenberg came from East Prussia and emigrated to Chicago at the turn of the century . He later made a fortune in the newspaper business, and was charged and convicted of tax evasion in 1940. He spent two years in prison and died shortly after his release.

Walter Annenberg, who worked in his father's company, was also charged as a possible accomplice. His innocence soon found out. After his father's death, he inherited the local newspapers The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily Racing Form . In the following years he also bought other print media as well as radio and television stations. His greatest success was the founding and publication of the television magazine TV Guide (1953).

After campaign donations for Richard Nixon's candidacy for US President, Annenberg was sent as US Ambassador to London during Nixon's presidency (1969–1974). During this time he was appointed Knight Commander (KBE) by the British Queen Elizabeth II . In the 1980 American presidential election campaign, he and his friends supported the brewer Joseph Coors and the department store heir Alfred Bloomingdale with financial support for the candidacy of Ronald Reagan .

In 1988 Annenberg sold his media company to the Australian media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch . As a philanthropist he donated in the following years more than one billion US dollars to the Metropolitan Museum of Art , he moved usually before but, secretly donate. In 1990 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society .

Walter Annenberg married Veronica "Ronnie" Dunkelman in 1938 and they divorced after twelve years. The connection resulted in two children, Roger and Wallis. His son Roger, a student at Harvard University , died on August 7, 1962 of complications from a suicide caused by sleeping pills. In 1951 he married Leonore "Lee" Rosenstiel (1918–2009), a niece of Harry Cohn , founder and president of Columbia Pictures . She brought two daughters, Diane and Elizabeth, into the marriage.

Walter Annenberg died in 2002 at the age of 94 of complications from pneumonia .

His villa " Sunnylands " in Rancho Mirage / California, where he had had a summer residence since 1966, was visited by many celebrities such as US Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Likewise by Margaret Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II. Actors like Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Gregory Peck, James Stewart and Frank Sinatra were also guests there. The villa has been open to the public since 2012.

Awards

literature

  • John E. Cooney: The Annenbergs , New York, Simon & Schuster (1982)
  • Christopher Ogden: Legacy: A Biography of Moses and Walter Annenberg , Little, Brown and Company (1999) ISBN 0-3166-3379-8

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Thea Diamond: Sadie Cecilia Annenberg . In: Jewish Women's Archive . March 1, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  2. a b Walter Annenberg . In: Der Spiegel . No. 41 , 2002 ( online ).
  3. ^ Member History: Walter H. Annenberg. American Philosophical Society, accessed April 12, 2018 .
  4. ^ Marc Pitzke: Luxury shelter for presidents. In: Spiegel Online. March 1, 2012, accessed November 30, 2014 .
predecessor Office successor
David KE Bruce US envoy in London
April 29, 1969-30. October 1974
Elliot L. Richardson