Mark Taper

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Mark Taper
Born(1902-12-25)December 25, 1902
Poland
DiedDecember 16, 1994(1994-12-16) (aged 91)
Beverly Hills, California, US
Resting placeHillside Memorial Park Cemetery
Other namesSydney Mark Taper
OccupationBusinessman, philanthropist
Spouse(s)Amelia Taper
Children3; including Carolyn Mary Kleefeld

S. (Sydney) Mark Taper (December 25, 1902 – December 16, 1994) was a Polish-born British-American real estate developer, financier and philanthropist in London and Southern California. His 1962 gift to the Los Angeles Music Center resulted in the Mark Taper Forum being named for him in 1967.[1]

Early life[]

Mark Taper was born on December 25, 1902 in Poland and raised in England,[2] where he had immigrated with his parents at a young age and would live for 36 years. His family was Jewish.[3] He married Amelia Lewis, an illustrator for London Vogue, and they had three children, born in South London.[4]

Career[]

Taper open five shoe stores in England. In 1926, at the age of 25, he was able to retire. From 1929, he instead begun successfully investing and developing innovations in real estate and house building. One of his more famous projects in the 1930s was a prestigious development he created in Brockley, Southeast London, whereby Taper named one street Millmark Road (now Millmark Grove) in honor of his wife, (nicknamed Milly) in a portmanteau with his own name, and another Barrydale (now ) for his young son, Barry.[2] By the late 1930s, Taper had retired and moved his family to Long Beach, California, becoming an American citizen.[2]

During Southern California's postwar housing boom, Taper founded Biltmore Homes and began building suburban housing for returning soldiers in Long Beach, Norwalk, Compton and Lakewood. In all, he built 35,000 houses for low and middle-income people as part of some of the largest housing projects in the U.S.[5] Taper also founded the First Charter Financial Corporation of Beverly Hills, parent of American Savings and Loan. In 1949 he partnered with Louis Boyar and Ben Weingart to acquire 3500 acres of agricultural land near Long Beach, The group formed the Lakewood Park Company and with financing from Prudential Insurance, built 17,000 affordable homes in the new community of Lakewood, California. The group built the Lakewood Center in 1953, and two years later Lakewood was the largest planned city in the United States.[6]

Philanthropy[]

Taper financed the first gallery for modern works at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as a memorial to his wife, Amelia, who died in 1958, and was a major donor to the University of California at Los Angeles.[1]

Mark and Amelia Taper devoted much of their time to transporting hundreds of Catholic and Jewish children out of Nazi Germany. The was established in 1952 as a family foundation, and remains active in philanthropic giving, including funding the S. Mark Taper Foundation Imaging Center at Cedars Sinai Medical Center and the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium at Benaroya Hall in Seattle.[5]

Death and legacy[]

Taper died suddenly on December 16, 1994, in his Beverly Hills, California, home.[2] He was buried next to his wife in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.[7]

As part of the 2007-2008 renovations, the auditorium of the Mark Taper Forum will be named the Amelia Taper Auditorium after a $2 million gift from the S. Mark Taper Foundation.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "S. Mark Taper, 92; California Financier Gave to the Arts". New York Times. December 17, 1994. p. 24. ProQuest 429990823.
  2. ^ a b c d "Mark Taper, Financier and Philanthropist, Dies at 92". Los Angeles Times. December 16, 1994. p. A1. ProQuest 1973851207.
  3. ^ "Mark Taper, Financier and Philanthropist, Dies at 92 : Charity: Music Center theater bears his name. He also gave large donations to the county art museum and UCLA. - Los Angeles Times".
  4. ^ "Carolyn Mary Kleefeld: The Artist and Her Life". Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Birth of a City". Time Magazine. April 17, 1950. Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  6. ^ Thackrey, Ted (December 23, 1980). "Ben Weingart, 92, Philanthropist, Financier, Dies". Los Angeles Times. p. OC_A1. ProQuest 163011117.
  7. ^ "Sydney Mark Taper". Find a Grave.
  8. ^ "S. Mark Taper Foundation Gift Names Amelia Taper Auditorium at Music Center's Mark Taper Forum (dead link)". Los Angeles Music Center (Press release). January 3, 2008. Archived from the original on January 24, 2008. Retrieved February 27, 2008.

External links[]

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