INSPIRED BY
David Mirisch SHARES THE 411 ON HIS GOLD ROLODEX ARTICLE TRACY MARCYNZSYN
CALLED THE “MAN WITH THE GOLD ROLODEX,” WESTLAKE
VILLAGE
RESIDENT
DAVID
MIRISCH
KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT,
HAVING
PLACED
THOUSANDS
OF
HOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES AND FAMOUS WORLDCLASS ATHLETES IN OVER 2,500 EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES AND IN SEVEN FOREIGN COUNTRIES DURING HIS FIVE-DECADE CAREER. Founding David Mirisch Enterprises in 1960 after a year of working for the number one Hollywood PR firm, Rogers and Cowan, Mirisch launched a glamorous career representing hundreds of movie and television stars, including Merv Griffin, Pat Boone, Johnny Mathis, Raquel Welch, Lynda Carter, Barbara Eden and Lyndsay Wagner. Fueled by his optimistic belief, “If there is a will there is a way,” the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native graduated from Ripon College in Wisconsin with a degree in Speech before heading West to pursue his future. “My father, Irving, and three uncles, Harold, Marvin and Walter, sold their candy concession company and moved from Milwaukee to Los Angeles to enter the motion picture industry and I, of course, joined them,” recalls Mirisch. In 1968, Mirisch branched out into charity events, producing a Celebrity Tennis Tournament for the former U.S. Open tennis champion Tony Trabert at Murrieta Hot Springs. That event kicked off thousands of celebrity fundraising events Mirisch produced throughout the United States and internationally. Mirisch’s long career includes many highlights, such as The City of Hope Victor Awards he assisted with for 28 years. The first nationally televised sports award show (Fox TV), the event was held at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel. “During those 28 years I brought over 500 of the world’s top athletes, managers and coaches to Las Vegas to be honored by The City of Hope,” says Mirisch, whose recently published autobiography, The Man with the Gold Rolodex: PR To The Stars, includes photos of the event and celebrity participants. The best part of the job, says Mirisch, is helping others. 48
Conejo Valley Lifestyle | February 2018