Sidney Sheinberg
| Sid Sheinberg | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Sidney Jay Sheinberg January 14, 1935 Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California, Corpus Christi, Texas |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (B.A., J.D) |
| Occupation | Lawyer, executive |
| Years active | 1958 – present |
| Employer |
MCA Inc. Universal Studios, Revue Productions |
| Known for | Discovering Steven Spielberg, Helped make Jaws, Schindler's List |
| Home town | Corpus Christi, Texas |
| Board member of | See Boards and Honors |
| Spouse(s) | Lorraine Gary (m. 1956) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | See Boards and Honors |
Sidney Jay "Sid" Sheinberg (born January 14, 1935) is an American lawyer and entertainment executive. He served as President and COO of MCA Inc. and Universal Studios.
Sheinberg, the son of Jewish immigrants, a Ukrainian mother and a Polish father, grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas where he was born on January 14, 1935. In 1955, Sheinberg graduated from Columbia University and subsequently attended Columbia Law School, as both a Harlan Fiske Stone and James Kent Scholar, where he obtained his JD. Sheinberg is a recipient of Columbia Law School's highest honors awarded to alumni, the Medal of Excellence and the John Jay Award.
In the summer of 1958, he arrived in California where he accepted a teaching position at UCLA School of Law. In 1959 while awaiting the results of his California Bar Examination, Sid joined the legal department of Revue Productions, the former television subsidiary of MCA Inc., and began his career in the entertainment industry.
In June 1973, Sheinberg was elected President and Chief Operating Officer of MCA, Inc. / Universal Studios and served alongside Lew Wasserman. Sheinberg is credited with discovering director Steven Spielberg and hiring him into the MCA/Universal Television division. Sheinberg served as President and COO of Universal Pictures (a division of MCA, Inc.) with the highest-grossing films of the last three decades of the 20th Century all being Universal/Spielberg projects, beginning with 1975's Jaws, 1982's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and concluding with 1993's Jurassic Park. Having the benefit of being guided by Lew Wasserman, Sheinberg acknowledged that an essential part of being a mentor is having confidence in the people you're guiding and mentoring. Other high-performing films credited to him are Schindler's List (1993) and Back to the Future (1985). Sheinberg famously wanted to change the name from "Back to the Future" to "Space Man From Pluto" despite the film having nothing to do with outer space, spacemen, or the dwarf planet Pluto. His battle with Terry Gilliam over the final cut of the movie Brazil was the subject of a book and documentary entitled The Battle of Brazil.
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