Charles Bluhdorn
American industrialist
Charles George Bluhdorn (born Karl Georg Blühdorn; September 20, 1926 – February 19, 1983) was an Austrian-born American industrialist. He built his fortune in auto parts and commodities such as zinc, and following a 1966 acquisition became CEO, chairman and president of the Hollywood movie studio Paramount Pictures. Paramount was a former subsidiary of Gulf and Western Industries, which Bluhdorn purchased in 1956 when it was called the Michigan Plating and Stamping Company.
By 1966, Bluhdorn had grown Gulf and Western to revenues estimated at $182 million (equivalent to $1.881b in 2024); that year it ranked 346th in the Fortune 500 list. The company grew through acquisition, including the takeovers of Stax Records in 1968, Sega in 1969, and Simon & Schuster in 1975. Bluhdorn became known in Hollywood for his intense yet gregarious character. He appointed the reserved Frank Yablans as president of Paramount and the outspoken Robert Evans as head of production, an uneasy and ill-matched team that eventually oversaw the release of hit films The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), and Chinatown (1974).
He died suddenly in 1983 aged 56.
Early life
Details of his upbringing are vague; according to Vanity Fair: "truth be told, Charlie wasn't elucidative about a lot of things, including whether he was Jewish, which he kept Hollywood guessing about by posting a sentry outside the men's room door."
He was born in Vienna, Austria, to an Austrian Jewish mother Rosa Fuchs and father Paul Blühdorn. Per Who's Who in Ridgefield (CT), he was considered such a "hellion" that his father sent the 11-year-old to an English boarding school for disciplining.
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