Martin Richards (producer)

Richards was born to Sidney "Sid" Klein, a stockbroker, and his wife, Shirley, and was raised just off the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. He had a younger brother named Bruce, and his parents also owned an arcade on the Keansburg Amusement Park in the 1940s. His friends and the friends of his brother always knew he was destined for a career linked to Broadway as he sang show tunes to them as kids.[http://www.broadway.com/buzz/165747/oscar-and-tony-winning-producer-martin-richards-dies-at-age-80 Oscar and Tony-Winning Producer Martin Richards Dies at Age 80]

Richards won an Arthur Godfrey talent search, then appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and at the Copacabana. He later became a casting director, then a Broadway theatre and film producer.{{cite news |last1=KETCHAM |first1=Diane |title=When It Comes to Parties, See This Man |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/01/nyregion/when-it-comes-to-parties-see-this-man.html |accessdate=27 May 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=September 1, 1996}}

Richards won the Best Picture Academy Award for Chicago, having optioned film rights to Miramax in 1991.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=gDEzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hAgGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4181,7189304&dq=producer+martin-richards+oscar&hl=en|title=And The Oscar For Best Acceptance Goes To|date=March 27, 2003|work=The Free Lance–Star|accessdate=May 21, 2010}} As a Broadway producer, he won three Tony Awards for Best Musical and one Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, out of 10 nominations.

Despite being gay, Richards became the third husband of Johnson & Johnson heiress and producer Mary Lea Johnson Richards; reportedly, the couple "adored each other". Despite the times being different back then, Richards' friends knew who he was and that he was different and they accepted it and loved him just the same. In his youth Richards and his parents spent their summers in Keansburg, New Jersey where his parents owned a summer business.{{cite news |last1=Gordon |first1=Meryl |title=Hey, Mr. Producer |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/features/n_8492/ |accessdate=27 May 2019 |agency=New York Magazine |publisher=New York Media LLC |date=March 14, 2003}}

Prior to their marriage, Johnson had been married to bisexual child psychiatrist Dr. Victor D'Arc, who she claimed in 1976 had conspired with his homosexual lover to hire a hitman and murder her;{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/21/nyregion/family-fortune-tangled-tale.html?scp=7&sq=mary%20lea%20johnson&st=cse&pagewanted=1|title=FAMILY FORTUNE: TANGLED TALE|work=New York Times|accessdate=October 9, 2010|first=Barbara|last=Lovenheim | author-link=Barbara Lovenheim|date=June 21, 1987}} a bodyguard was beaten almost to death during a break-in that almost killed Johnson and Richards. Although the Bronx district attorney opened an investigation, no charges were ultimately brought, and the pair divorced in 1978.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/04/obituaries/mary-lea-johnson-richards-63-founder-of-production-company.html?scp=15&sq=seward%20johnson&st=cse | work=The New York Times | title=Mary Lea Johnson Richards, 63, Founder of Production Company | first=David | last=Margolick | date=May 4, 1990 | accessdate=May 7, 2010}}

Johnson predeceased Richards in 1990, leaving him a $50 million fortune. Johnson's family waged a twelve-year court battle seeking to render Richards ineligible for a share of the Johnson & Johnson fortune. The court ruled in favor of Richards.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/15/nyregion/about-books.html?scp=3&sq=mary%20lea%20johnson&st=cse | work=The New York Times | first=Shirley | last=Horner | title=ABOUT BOOKS | date=February 15, 1987}} In memory of his late wife, Richards created the New York Center for Children to care for abused children and their families. Known to throw lavish parties, he was close to Chita Rivera, who hosted a tribute to Richards on April 8, 2013, at the Edison Ballroom to benefit the center.{{cite news |last1=GIOIA |first1=MICHAEL |title=Chita Rivera Hosts April 8 Memorial Celebrating Late Producer Marty Richards With Performances and Tributes |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/chita-rivera-hosts-april-8-memorial-celebrating-late-producer-marty-richards-with-performances-and-tributes-com-204189 |accessdate=27 May 2019 |publisher=Playbill |date=April 8, 2013}}

He was also notable for physically assaulting "Stuttering" John Melendez at an event in 1996 while the latter was working for The Howard Stern Show.{{cite web | url=https://deadline.com/2012/11/r-i-p-marty-richards-377640/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313022601/http://deadline.com/2012/11/r-i-p-marty-richards-377640/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 13, 2017 | title=R.I.P. Marty Richards | date=November 27, 2012 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxRF8lNjyMk | title=Howard S TV Stuttering John Gets Slapped 96 | website=YouTube }}

Richards died from liver cancer at his home in Manhattan on November 26, 2012, at age 80.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/172585-Marty-Richards-Tony-Winning-Broadway-and-Film-Producer-Dies-at-80 |title=Marty Richards, Tony-Winning Broadway and Film Producer, Dies at 80 |publisher=Playbill.com |date=September 14, 2012 |accessdate=November 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130083003/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/172585-Marty-Richards-Tony-Winning-Broadway-and-Film-Producer-Dies-at-80 |archivedate=November 30, 2012 }}[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/theatre-obituaries/9719963/Martin-Richards.html Telegraph.co.uk] The marquees of Broadway theatres were dimmed in his memory the night of November 27, 2012 at 7 p.m.{{cite web|title=BROADWAY AND FILM PRODUCER MARTIN RICHARDS DIES|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/broadway-film-producer-martin-richards-dies-80|publisher=AP|accessdate=November 27, 2012}} Martin is buried in Locust Valley Cemetery, Locust Valley, New York.

• Some of My Best Friends Are... (producer – as Marty Richards) 1971
• Fun and Games (producer – as Marty Richards) 1973
• The Image (producer – as Marty Richards) 1975
• The Boys from Brazil (producer) 1978
• The Shining (associate producer: The Producer Circle Organization) 1980
• Fort Apache, The Bronx (producer) 1981
• Chicago (producer) 2002

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Category:1932 births

Category:2012 deaths

Category:Deaths from liver cancer in New York (state)

Category:Film producers from New York (state)

Category:American gay men

Category:Golden Globe Award–winning producers

Category:LGBTQ people from New York (state)

Category:LGBTQ film producers

Category:People from the Bronx

Category:Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award

Category:Tony Award winners