Edward Rosenthal
| Edward Rosenthal | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Edward Rosenthal 1904 |
| Died | 1991 (age 77) White Plains, New York |
| Cause of death | leukemia |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | B.A. University of Pennsylvania |
| Children | Peter Rosenthal Ellen Rosenthal Sarnoff Patricia Rosenthal Cantor Carol Rosenthal Ross Maslow |
| Family | Steve Ross (son-in-law) |
Edward Rosenthal (1904-1991) was a former vice chairman of Warner Communications and president/owner of the Jewish funeral home chain, Riverside Memorial Chapel.
Rosenthal was born to a Jewish family. He has two siblings: Miriam Rosenthal Passerman and Morton Rosenthal. In 1924, he graduated with a B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. After school he took over his family's funeral home business founded by his grandfather, Louis Meyer, in 1897. In 1933, he divided the company into two brands, the Riverside Memorial Chapel and Parkwest Chapels and expanded to Miami, Florida (1935); Brooklyn (1938); the Bronx (1940); and Westchester County, New York (1950). He expanded further via acquisitions acquiring the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel (1948), the Universal Funeral Chapel (1955); and the Walter B. Cooke Chapel (1957) to become the largest funeral company in the United States.
The company diversified after he brought his son in law into the business, Steve Ross (who married his daughter Carol in 1953). They established a separate company that would lease out their vehicles in the evenings when they were not needed for funerals and then opened a rental company, Abbey Rent a Car. They later merged the funeral home and Abbey with a parking lot operator, the Kinney Parking Company, which was then owned by underworld crime figures Manny Kimmel and Abner Zwillman; and added an office cleaning business (which was jointly owned by Rosenthal and a cousin). In 1958, Rosenthal ceded control to his son-in-law. The resulting holding company, Kinney National Services, was taken public in 1962 with a market valuation of $12.5 million. Rosenthal served as vice chairman of Kinney National from 1962 until 1966. In 1964, Kinney National purchased wood flooring manufacturer Circle Floor from Seymour and Paul Milstein for $15 million. In 1966, Kinney expanded into the entertainment business by purchasing the Ashley-Famous talent agency and then in 1969, Kinney paid $400 million for the ailing Warner Bros.-Seven Arts film studio and record business. In 1971, the funeral business was purchased by Service Corporation International. Two years later, after spinning off its remaining non-entertainment assets, Kinney National Services renamed itself Warner Communications with Rosenthal serving as vice chairman of Warner Communications from 1972 until 1983.
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