Leon Klinghoffer
| Leon Klinghoffer | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 24, 1916 New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | October 8, 1985 (aged 69) Achille Lauro |
| Cause of death | Shooting |
| Resting place | Beth David Memorial Park Kenilworth, New Jersey, United States |
| Occupation | Appliance manufacturer |
| Spouse(s) | Marilyn Klinghoffer |
| Children | 2 |
Leon Klinghoffer (September 24, 1916 – October 8, 1985) was a Jewish-American appliance manufacturer who was shot and killed and thrown overboard by members of the Palestine Liberation Front who hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985.
Klinghoffer grew up on Suffolk Street in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City. Among his close friends was Jack Kirby, who would go on to become a major figure in the history of comic books.
Klinghoffer married Marilyn (née Windwehr), the daughter of a haberdasher, in September 1949. The couple had two daughters. Klinghoffer suffered two strokes later in his life that left him wheelchair-bound.
He was a relative of Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and writer David Klinghoffer.
While he was growing up, Klinghoffer worked in his family's hardware store, Klinghoffer Supply Company. In 1942, he joined the Army Air Corps and was trained as a navigator. He flew missions in B-24 Liberator bombers with the famous 93rd Bombardment Group in the European theater of World War II.
After his honorable discharge from the army in January 1944, Klinghoffer and his brother Albert took over the store and began to invent appliances. A few years later, the two brothers founded the Roto-Broil Corporation of America. Their feature item was the Roto-Broil Rotisserie Oven or Roto-Broil 400, a popular kitchen appliance in the 1950s.
In 1985, Klinghoffer (then 69, retired, and in a wheelchair) was on a cruise on the Achille Lauro with his wife Marilyn to celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary. On October 7, four hijackers from the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) took control of the liner off Egypt as it was sailing from Alexandria to Port Said, Egypt. Holding the passengers and crew hostage, they ordered the captain to sail to Tartus, Syria, and demanded the release of 50 Palestinians then in Israeli prisons, including the Lebanese prisoner Samir Kuntar, who had been responsible for the murder of five civilians in a terrorist attack in 1979.
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