David Begelman
Encyclopedia : D : DA : DAV : David Begelman
David Begelman (August 26, 1921 – August 7, 1995) was a US Hollywood producer who embezzled studio money in the 1970's and got away with it.
Born in New York City, Begelman was a president of Columbia Pictures in the 1970's.
In February 1977 actor Cliff Robertson received a note from the IRS that said he had received $10,000 from Columbia Pictures. He had never received the money, and upon seeing the cashed check he discovered that his signature had been forged.
Robertson's report started an investigation. The LAPD and the FBI verified that the $10,000 check was a forgery, and they tracked it to Begelman. Begelman had forged Robertson's signature and cashed the check himself.
Columbia Pictures sent Begelman on a paid vacation and announced its own investigation. They found out that the forgery was just one of the several illegal financial transactions. Begelman had embezzled $40,000 through false checks. However, the board of directors wanted to keep the matter silent and at first convinced Robertson not to speak to the press. In December 1977 they reinstated Begelman with a statement that he had had "emotional problems."
Despite the pressure, Robertson decided to speak out. He got his story to the press through his wife, Dina Merrill, and spoke to Washington Post. In 1978 Hollywood gossip columnists published the affair and dubbed it "Hollywoodgate". Robertson was blacklisted for four years.
Begelman later moved to other movie industry jobs, including running United Artists for MGM in the 1980s. Later he ran two smaller production companies.
David Begelman shot himself in Los Angeles Century Plaza Hotel room in 1995.
Books
- David McClintick - Indecent Exposure: A True Story of Hollywood and Wall Street (1982; New York: William Morrow and Company)
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.