Burt Shavitz

{{Infobox person

| name = Burt Shavitz

| image = Burt's Bees Hand Salve, Sep 2012.JPG

| alt =

| caption = Drawing of Shavitz on Burt's Bees product

| birth_name = Ingram Berg Shavitz

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|05|15}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|07|05|1935|05|15}}

| death_place = Bangor, Maine, U.S.

| nationality =

| other_names =

| occupation = Beekeeper, businessman, photographer

| known_for = Burt's Bees

}}

Ingram Berg Shavitz{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/burts-bees-buzz-documentary-2014-8/|title=Burt's Bees Documentary - Business Insider|date=August 29, 2014|work=Business Insider}} (May 15, 1935 – July 5, 2015) professionally known as Burt Shavitz, was an American beekeeper and businessman notable for founding the Burt's Bees personal care products company with businesswoman Roxanne Quimby.{{cite web|url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/20040101/howididit.html|title=How I Did It: Roxanne Quimby|work=Inc.com}} Shavitz's likeness is featured on the Burt's Bees products.

Early life

Burt Shavitz was born Ingram Shavitz to a Jewish family[http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.664638 Haraatz: "Burt Shavitz, the Reclusive Jewish Beekeeper Who Co-founded Burt's Bees, Dies at 80"]. July 6, 2015 in Manhattan.{{cite web|url=http://collage.bangordailynews.com/2014/12/01/home/burt-shavitz-of-burts-bees-shares-his-photographic-past/|title=Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees shares his photographic past|work=Collage|date=December 2014 |access-date=July 6, 2015}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hn8ACgAAQBAJ&q=Burt+Shavitz+1935&pg=PT57|title=Queen Bee|via=google.ca|isbn=9780884484202|access-date=July 6, 2015|last1=Austin|first1=Phyllis|date=June 15, 2015|publisher=Tilbury House Publishers and Cadent }} He was raised in Great Neck, New York,{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/11/burt-s-bees-co-founder-burt-shavitz-on-the-doc-burt-s-buzz-and-losing-millions.html|title=Burt's Bees Co-Founder Burt Shavitz On the Doc 'Burt's Buzz,' and Losing Millions|work=The Daily Beast|date=September 11, 2013 |last1=Stern |first1=Marlow }} and changed his name in 1953 when he finished high school.{{cite web|title=10 things you didn't know about the man behind Burt's Bees|url=http://www.chatelaine.com/health/the-man-behind-burts-bees/|website=Chatelaine|date=June 24, 2014 |access-date=January 6, 2015}} He spent time in the Army, and later while living in Manhattan he took photographs, including those of African American Muslim rallies and Bowery drug-dealers,{{cite news|title=Obituary: Burt Shavitz: Buzz, buzz|url=https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21659686-burt-shavitz-co-founder-burts-bees-died-july-5th-aged-80-buzz-buzz|access-date=24 July 2015|newspaper=The Economist}} that appeared in Time and Life magazines.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/28/honey-dance|title=Burt Shavitz, of Burt's Bees - The New Yorker|author=Tad Friend|date=July 28, 2014|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=July 6, 2015}}

Business career

Shavitz started as a hobby apiarist in New Paltz, NY, eventually settled in Maine, where he discovered beekeeping as a source of income and met Roxanne Quimby, who would sell his wax candles at local fairs. An increase in sales and production led to them launching Burt's Bees in the 1980s.{{cite web|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/co-founder-burts-bees-says-he-was-ousted|title=Co-founder of Burt's Bees says he was ousted|work=The Big Story|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401015626/https://bigstory.ap.org/article/co-founder-burts-bees-says-he-was-ousted |archive-date=2016-04-01 |access-date=2022-07-04}} As the partnership and business grew, operations were set up in North Carolina in 1994. Soon thereafter, the partnership between Shavitz and Quimby waned, leading to Quimby buying out Shavitz's stake in the company.{{cite news| agency =Associated Press| title =Burt Shavitz, the Burt Behind Burt's Bees, Dies at 80| newspaper =The New York Times| date =July 5, 2015| url =https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/07/05/us/ap-us-obit-burt-shavitz.html| access-date = July 6, 2015}} In 2007, Clorox purchased Burt's Bees for more than $900 million.{{cite web|url=http://investors.thecloroxcompany.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=272197|title=Clorox to Acquire Burt's Bees; Expands Into Fast-Growing Natural Personal Care|work=thecloroxcompany.com|access-date=November 21, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140705071041/http://investors.thecloroxcompany.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=272197|archive-date=July 5, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Shavitz was a self-described hippie, an avid outdoorsman who had little regard for material wealth but placed value on land, free open spaces for wildlife.

Documentary

A documentary film, Burt's Buzz, was released in 2014. The film discussed the life of Shavitz, his history with Burt's Bees, and his later activities as a beekeeper and businessman.{{cite news| author = Steven Kurutz| title =Burt Shavitz, the World's Most Famous Retired Beekeeper| newspaper =The New York Times| date =July 16, 2014| url =https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/garden/burt-shavitz-the-worlds-most-famous-retired-beekeeper.html| access-date = July 5, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://burtsbuzzdoc.com/|title=Burt's Buzz - a documentary|work=burtsbuzzdoc.com}}

Death

Shavitz died on July 5, 2015, at the age of 80 in Bangor, Maine, from respiratory problems.{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/burt-shavitz-burt-behind-burts-bees-dies-80-013128860.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706102502/http://news.yahoo.com/burt-shavitz-burt-behind-burts-bees-dies-80-013128860.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 6, 2015|author =David Sharp, Associated Press|title=Burt Shavitz, the Burt behind Burt's Bees, dies at 80|date=July 6, 2015|work=Yahoo! News|access-date=July 6, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.wral.com/burt-shavitz-co-founder-of-burt-s-bees-passes-away/14756132/|title=Burt Shavitz, co-founder of Burt's Bees, passes away|author=WRAL|work=WRAL.com|date=July 5, 2015 }} He resided in Parkman, Maine.