Seymour "Sy" Kravitz was an American filmmaker and NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 TV news producer.

Kravitz was of Russian Jewish

History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union

The vast territories of the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest populations of Jews in the diaspora. Within these territories the Jewish community flourished and developed many of modern Judaism's most distinctive theological and cultural traditions, while also facing periods of...

 descent. He was married to actress Roxie Roker

Roxie Roker

Roxie Albertha Roker was an American actress, best known for her groundbreaking role as Helen Willis on the sitcom The Jeffersons, half of the first interracial couple to be shown on regular prime time television...

 from 1962 to 1985. Kravitz and Roker were the parents of the rock musician Lenny Kravitz

Lenny Kravitz

Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...

. Lenny, born in 1964, was named after Sy's brother, PFC

Private First Class

Private First Class is a military rank held by junior enlisted persons.- Singapore :The rank of Private First Class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of Private and Lance-Corporal . It is usually held by conscript soldiers midway through their national service term...

 Leonard Harold Kravitz, who was killed in action in the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 while defending against a Chinese attack and saving most of his platoon, and was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross

Distinguished Service Cross (United States)

The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Army, for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree...

.

Sy was a Hollywood producer and his environment of celebrities and up-and-coming stars was influential on his son's musical career. He died of leukemia

Leukemia

Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 one and a half months before his 81st birthday when Lenny Kravitz was having his first concert in the all-US tour with Aerosmith

Aerosmith

Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

. The Let Love Rule

Let Love Rule

Let Love Rule is the debut album of American rock musician Lenny Kravitz, released on September 19, 1989 by Virgin Records America. Then-wife Lisa Bonet wrote the lyrics to "Fear" and co-wrote the lyrics on the song, "Rosemary"....

singer paid tribute to his father in front of fans at a Mohegan Sun Casino Arena show in Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

on October 31, 2005.

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