Edgar Rosenberg
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| Born | September 21, 1925[1]
Bremerhaven, Germany
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| Died | August 14, 1987(1987-08-14) (aged 61) |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University |
| Occupation(s) | Film producer, television producer |
| Years active | 1964–1987 |
| Spouse |
(m. 1965) |
| Children | Melissa Rivers |
Edgar Rosenberg (September 21, 1925[1] – August 14, 1987) was a German-born British[2] film and television producer based in the U.S.
Edgar Rosenberg was born to Jewish parents in Bremerhaven in 1925.[1][3] When he was a small boy, his family emigrated from Germany to Denmark and then South Africa to escape the Nazis.[4] He was educated in England at Rugby School and Cambridge University.[4][5]
Rosenberg moved to the United States as a young man and rose to become an assistant to Emanuel Sacks, vice president of entertainment at NBC, but was fired during a year of recovery from a traffic accident and had to work as a night clerk in a bookstore.[4] In the 1960s, he worked for the public relations firm run by Anna M. Rosenberg (to whom he was not related) and was a valued news source for journalists.[5]
As a co-founder of the nonprofit Telsun Foundation production company affiliated with the United Nations, he helped to develop a series of television films promoting the United Nations, one of which, The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966), was also released to theaters as a feature film.[4][6][7] His other television credits included the 1950s U.S. educational TV series Omnibus[5] and the short-lived 1970s sitcom Husbands, Wives & Lovers, which was created by his wife, Joan Rivers.
In the 1970s, he produced the feature film Rabbit Test (1978), written and directed by Rivers.[8] He served as Rivers' manager for most of their marriage and was a producer on The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, on the newly formed Fox Television Network.[4][5][9]
Rosenberg married actress, comedian and commentator Joan Rivers in July 1965, five days after hiring her to work with him in Jamaica rewriting a screenplay for a joint movie deal with his friend Peter Sellers.[4][5] The couple had one daughter, Melissa Rivers.
In August 1987, several months after Fox fired him and Rivers, Rosenberg died by suicide, overdosing on prescription drugs in a Philadelphia hotel room. He had been clinically depressed, which Rivers believed was brought on by medication he had been taking since a heart attack in 1984.[10][11] Nancy Reagan was the first person to telephone Rivers upon Rosenberg's death, and arranged for his body to be moved from Philadelphia.[12][13]
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| Stand-up specials |
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| Films |
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| Television |
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| Related |
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| Family |
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