G. David Schine
Encyclopedia
Gerard David Schine, better known as G. David Schine or David Schine, (September 11, 1927 – June 19, 1996) was the wealthy heir to a hotel chain fortune who received national attention when he became a central figure in the Army-McCarthy Hearings
of 1954 in his role as the chief consultant to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
to hotel magnate Junius Myer Schine
and Hildegarde Feldman. He attended Phillips Academy
and graduated from Harvard University
in 1949. He entered Harvard in the summer of 1945, took a leave of absence in the spring of 1946, and returned in the fall of 1947 after a year working as an assistant purser for the Army Transport Service. Though it was a civilian position, he wrote on his application for re-admittance that he was a "lieutenant in the Army," and other students resented him calling himself a veteran. Said one: "We were all veterans and his pretending to be one went over like a lead balloon." At Harvard he conducted the university band and served as its drum major. He lived, according to a later Harvard Crimson
portrait, "in a style which went out here with the era of the Gold Coast," the years before World War I
when wealthy Harvard students lived apart from their classmates in private accommodations. College administrators denied his requests to use his dormitory room as an office and to allow a female secretary to visit outside of regular visiting hours.
pamphlet called Definition of Communism, and had a copy placed in every room of his family's chain of hotels. Although the pamphlet contained many errors, it won Schine an introduction to Roy Cohn
through newspaper columnist George Sokolsky
, and the two became friends. Cohn at that time was Senator Joseph McCarthy
's chief counsel, and he brought Schine onto McCarthy's staff as an unpaid "chief consultant". Among their other anti-communist activities, Schine and Cohn conducted a well-publicized and widely ridiculed tour of Europe in 1953, examining libraries of the United States Information Agency
for books written by authors they deemed to be Communists or fellow travelers. Die Welt of Hamburg called them Schnuffler or snoops. Theodore Kaghan
, Deputy Director of the Public Affairs Division in Office of the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany and a target of the Committee, called them "junketeering gumshoes."
In November 1953, Schine was conscripted
into the United States Army
as a private. Some found it suspicious that he was drafted just before he reached the age limit for being drafted, perhaps because he was on McCarthy's staff. Cohn immediately began a campaign to obtain special privileges for Schine. Cohn met with and made repeated telephone calls to military officials from the Secretary of the Army
down to Schine's company commander. He asked that Schine be given a commission, which the Army refused due to Schine's lack of qualifications, and that Schine be given light duties, extra leave and not be assigned overseas. At one point, Cohn was reported to have threatened to "wreck the Army" if his demands were not met. During the Army-McCarthy Hearings
of 1954, the Army charged Cohn and McCarthy with using improper pressure to influence the Army, while McCarthy and Cohn counter-charged that the Army was holding Schine "hostage" in an attempt to squelch McCarthy's investigations into Communists in the Army. The hearings were broadcast live using the relatively new medium of television
and were viewed by an estimated 20 million people. Just prior to the hearings, Schine and Cohn appeared on the cover of TIME on March 22, 1954, under the banner "McCarthy and His Men".
Schine and Cohn were rumored to have a sexual relationship, although there has never been any proof of this. More recently, some historians have concluded that the two were merely friends, and that Schine was heterosexual. During this period, Schine was linked romantically with some actresses, including Rhonda Fleming
and Piper Laurie
. Cohn's homosexuality
later became public and he died of AIDS
in 1986.
The Army-McCarthy hearings absolved McCarthy of any direct wrongdoing, blaming Cohn alone. The exposure of McCarthy and his methods before a television audience, however, is widely considered the beginning of the end of his career. Roy Cohn resigned from McCarthy's staff shortly after the hearings.
as a businessman and an entrepreneur
, working in the hotel, music, and film industries. He was for a time a member of the Young Presidents' Organization
. On October 22, 1957, he married Miss Universe
of 1955, Hillevi Rombin
of Sweden
. They had six children, including Frederick Berndt Schine
(1962–1996), and were married for nearly 40 years until their deaths in 1996. Also in 1957, Schine's father named him head of Schine Enterprises, though in 1963 Schine's father resumed his position as head of the company. In 1977, Schine described himself as "retired."
Schine made a cameo appearance
as himself on a 1968 episode of Batman
. Schine was executive producer of the 1971 film The French Connection
, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards
and won five, including Best Picture
. In 1977 he produced That's Action!. Shortly afterwards, Schine was involved with music by The DeFranco Family
that achieved Billboard gold and platinum and Cash Box
#1. Schine's company, Schine Music, also provided songs to Lou Rawls
and Bobby Sherman
, among others. A musician himself, Schine had music he composed published. He once conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra
in place of Arthur Fiedler
at a concert celebrating his Harvard University
25th reunion in a performance of Sibelius' Karelia Suite
. Some of the musicians refused to play for him and one commented later: "That man ruined my father's life. No way I was going to play for him." Schine's post-production video house in Hollywood, Studio Television Services, handled clients such as HBO, Disney
, Orion
, and MGM/UA. His publicly traded
research and development
company, High Resolution Sciences, endeavored for years to bring high definition
to broadcast television
.
, along with his wife and his son, Berndt, who was piloting the plane. They were buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
in Los Angeles
.
recordings of the Army-McCarthy hearings, appeared in 1964.
Following Schine's death, playwright Tony Kushner
, who had previously authored the Pulitzer-prize winning Angels in America, wrote a one-act play, G. David Schine in Hell
. The play takes place on the day Schine died and portrays Schine as he arrives in hell and is reunited with Roy Cohn
, Richard Nixon
, Whittaker Chambers
, and J. Edgar Hoover
.
In the 1992 HBO original film Citizen Cohn
, Schine is portrayed by Jeffrey Nordling
.
Army-McCarthy Hearings
The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations between April 1954 and June 1954. The hearings were held for the purpose of investigating conflicting accusations between the United States Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy...
of 1954 in his role as the chief consultant to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Early years
Schine was born in Gloversville, New YorkGloversville, New York
Gloversville is a city in Fulton County, New York, that was once the hub of America's glovemaking industry with over two hundred manufacturers in Gloversville and Johnstown. In 2000, Gloversville had a population of 15,413. Ten years later, the population had increased to 15,665- History :The...
to hotel magnate Junius Myer Schine
Junius Myer Schine
Junius Myer Schine was a New York theater and hotel magnate. -Biography:He was born on February 20, 1890 or February 28, 1890. In 1902, as an eleven year old he and his brother Louis Schine , age nine, joined their father in the United States. They emigrated from Latvia with their mother, Anne...
and Hildegarde Feldman. He attended Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
and graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1949. He entered Harvard in the summer of 1945, took a leave of absence in the spring of 1946, and returned in the fall of 1947 after a year working as an assistant purser for the Army Transport Service. Though it was a civilian position, he wrote on his application for re-admittance that he was a "lieutenant in the Army," and other students resented him calling himself a veteran. Said one: "We were all veterans and his pretending to be one went over like a lead balloon." At Harvard he conducted the university band and served as its drum major. He lived, according to a later Harvard Crimson
Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson are the athletic teams of Harvard University. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2006, there were 41 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at any other NCAA Division I college in the country...
portrait, "in a style which went out here with the era of the Gold Coast," the years before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
when wealthy Harvard students lived apart from their classmates in private accommodations. College administrators denied his requests to use his dormitory room as an office and to allow a female secretary to visit outside of regular visiting hours.
Anti-communism and Army-McCarthy hearings
In 1952 Schine published a six-page anti-communistAnti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
pamphlet called Definition of Communism, and had a copy placed in every room of his family's chain of hotels. Although the pamphlet contained many errors, it won Schine an introduction to Roy Cohn
Roy Cohn
Roy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...
through newspaper columnist George Sokolsky
George Sokolsky
George Ephraim Sokolsky was a weekly radio broadcaster for the National Association of Manufacturers and a columnist for The New York Herald Tribune, who later switched to The New York Sun and other Hearst newspapers.-Biography:...
, and the two became friends. Cohn at that time was Senator Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
's chief counsel, and he brought Schine onto McCarthy's staff as an unpaid "chief consultant". Among their other anti-communist activities, Schine and Cohn conducted a well-publicized and widely ridiculed tour of Europe in 1953, examining libraries of the United States Information Agency
United States Information Agency
The United States Information Agency , which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were...
for books written by authors they deemed to be Communists or fellow travelers. Die Welt of Hamburg called them Schnuffler or snoops. Theodore Kaghan
Theodore Kaghan
-Early years:Kaghan was born in Boston and graduated from the University of Michigan.At the University of Michigan he won several annual prizes given for undergraduate dramatic writing, including the top award in 1935 for a play called Unfinished Picture, later read but not performed by the Group...
, Deputy Director of the Public Affairs Division in Office of the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany and a target of the Committee, called them "junketeering gumshoes."
In November 1953, Schine was conscripted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
into the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
as a private. Some found it suspicious that he was drafted just before he reached the age limit for being drafted, perhaps because he was on McCarthy's staff. Cohn immediately began a campaign to obtain special privileges for Schine. Cohn met with and made repeated telephone calls to military officials from the Secretary of the Army
United States Secretary of the Army
The Secretary of the Army is a civilian official within the Department of Defense of the United States of America with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and...
down to Schine's company commander. He asked that Schine be given a commission, which the Army refused due to Schine's lack of qualifications, and that Schine be given light duties, extra leave and not be assigned overseas. At one point, Cohn was reported to have threatened to "wreck the Army" if his demands were not met. During the Army-McCarthy Hearings
Army-McCarthy Hearings
The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations between April 1954 and June 1954. The hearings were held for the purpose of investigating conflicting accusations between the United States Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy...
of 1954, the Army charged Cohn and McCarthy with using improper pressure to influence the Army, while McCarthy and Cohn counter-charged that the Army was holding Schine "hostage" in an attempt to squelch McCarthy's investigations into Communists in the Army. The hearings were broadcast live using the relatively new medium of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and were viewed by an estimated 20 million people. Just prior to the hearings, Schine and Cohn appeared on the cover of TIME on March 22, 1954, under the banner "McCarthy and His Men".
Schine and Cohn were rumored to have a sexual relationship, although there has never been any proof of this. More recently, some historians have concluded that the two were merely friends, and that Schine was heterosexual. During this period, Schine was linked romantically with some actresses, including Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda Fleming , is an American film and television actress.She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most beautiful and glamorous actresses of her day...
and Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
. Cohn's homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
later became public and he died of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
in 1986.
The Army-McCarthy hearings absolved McCarthy of any direct wrongdoing, blaming Cohn alone. The exposure of McCarthy and his methods before a television audience, however, is widely considered the beginning of the end of his career. Roy Cohn resigned from McCarthy's staff shortly after the hearings.
Later years
After the hearings, Schine left politics and refused to comment on the episode for the rest of his life. He remained active in the private sectorPrivate sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
as a businessman and an entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, working in the hotel, music, and film industries. He was for a time a member of the Young Presidents' Organization
Young Presidents' Organization
The Young Presidents’ Organization is a global network of young chief executives. With approximately 18,000 members in more than 100 countries, YPO and its graduate organization, WPO share a founding mission: Better Leaders Through Education and Idea Exchange....
. On October 22, 1957, he married Miss Universe
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....
of 1955, Hillevi Rombin
Hillevi Rombin
Hillevi Schine, , crowned as Miss Sweden and is the fourth winner of Miss Universe in 1955. She was the first deceased Miss Universe title holder since the pageant's inception.-Biography:...
of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. They had six children, including Frederick Berndt Schine
Frederick Berndt Schine
Frederick Berndt Schine was the chief of staff for Dana Rohrabacher, and head of the California branch of GOPAC.-Biography:...
(1962–1996), and were married for nearly 40 years until their deaths in 1996. Also in 1957, Schine's father named him head of Schine Enterprises, though in 1963 Schine's father resumed his position as head of the company. In 1977, Schine described himself as "retired."
Schine made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as himself on a 1968 episode of Batman
Batman (TV): guest appearances and episodes
The following is an episode list for the 1960s Batman television series. It also provides production notes and a list of notable guest stars.-Seasons:-Season 1: 1966:...
. Schine was executive producer of the 1971 film The French Connection
The French Connection (film)
This article is about the 1971 film. For the British fashion label, see French Connection .The French Connection is a 1971 American crime film directed by William Friedkin. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore...
, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
and won five, including Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
. In 1977 he produced That's Action!. Shortly afterwards, Schine was involved with music by The DeFranco Family
The DeFranco Family
The DeFranco Family featuring Tony DeFranco was a 1970s pop music group and family from Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada. The group, all siblings, consists of Benny DeFranco , the guitarist; Marisa DeFranco , the keyboardist; Nino DeFranco , the second guitarist; Merlina DeFranco , the...
that achieved Billboard gold and platinum and Cash Box
Cash Box magazine
Cashbox magazine was a weekly publication devoted to the music and coin-operated machine industries in the USA which was published from July 1942 to November 16, 1996...
#1. Schine's company, Schine Music, also provided songs to Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
and Bobby Sherman
Bobby Sherman
Robert Cabot "Bobby" Sherman, Jr. , is an American singer, actor and occasional songwriter, who became a popular teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s.He graduated in 1961 from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California...
, among others. A musician himself, Schine had music he composed published. He once conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra
Boston Pops Orchestra
The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in playing light classical and popular music....
in place of Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
at a concert celebrating his Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
25th reunion in a performance of Sibelius' Karelia Suite
Karelia Suite
The Karelia Suite, Op. 11, is a collection of orchestral pieces composed by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.The pieces in this suite are drawn from several independent works he wrote in 1893 for a patriotic historical pageant to be presented by students of the University of Helsinki in Viipuri,...
. Some of the musicians refused to play for him and one commented later: "That man ruined my father's life. No way I was going to play for him." Schine's post-production video house in Hollywood, Studio Television Services, handled clients such as HBO, Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
, Orion
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
, and MGM/UA. His publicly traded
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
company, High Resolution Sciences, endeavored for years to bring high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
to broadcast television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
.
Death
Schine was killed on Sunday June 19, 1996, at the age of 68, in a private airplane accident in Burbank, CaliforniaBurbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, along with his wife and his son, Berndt, who was piloting the plane. They were buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Later references
Point of Order!, documentary film edited from the kinescopeKinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
recordings of the Army-McCarthy hearings, appeared in 1964.
Following Schine's death, playwright Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...
, who had previously authored the Pulitzer-prize winning Angels in America, wrote a one-act play, G. David Schine in Hell
G. David Schine in Hell
G. David Schine in Hell is a one act play written by Tony Kushner. The play centers on G. David Schine, who arrives in Hell and is re-united with Roy Cohn, Richard Nixon, Whittaker Chambers, and J. Edgar Hoover....
. The play takes place on the day Schine died and portrays Schine as he arrives in hell and is reunited with Roy Cohn
Roy Cohn
Roy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...
, Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers was born Jay Vivian Chambers and also known as David Whittaker Chambers , was an American writer and editor. After being a Communist Party USA member and Soviet spy, he later renounced communism and became an outspoken opponent later testifying in the perjury and espionage trial...
, and J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
.
In the 1992 HBO original film Citizen Cohn
Citizen Cohn
Citizen Cohn is a 1992 cable film covering the life of Joseph McCarthy's controversial chief counsel Roy Cohn. James Woods, who starred as Cohn, was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance...
, Schine is portrayed by Jeffrey Nordling
Jeffrey Nordling
Jeffrey Richard Nordling is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jake Manning in Once and Again, Larry Moss in 24, and Nick Bolen in Desperate Housewives; and in the following films: And the Band Played On, Flight 93, Pirates of Silicon Valley, and the film D3: The Mighty Ducks.-Early...
.
External links
- G. David Schine at Findagrave
- G. David Schine at IMDB