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| Leo Pearlstein |
Leo Pearlstein, the “king of culinary PR,” died on Sept. 10 in Los Angeles at the age of 104.
Born in Paterson, NJ, Pearlstein moved to LA with his family in 1936 and worked in his parents' grocery store.
After serving in the Air Force’s psychological research unit during WWII, he opened Lee & Associates Public Relations and Advertising.
The shop, which ranked with O'Dwyer's, specialized in the food & beverage business and represented more than 40 agricultural advisory boards including figs, prunes, almonds and apples.
Its brand name clients included Frito-Lay, Rold Gold Pretzels, Mrs. Cubbison, Suntory Whiskey and Del Monte Foods.
Pearlstein cultivated his Hollywood connections, signing up Groucho Marx to pitch figs, Jayne Mansfield (turkeys) and Abbott & Costello (eggs).
He wrote several books about his PR life, including “Celebrity Stew: Food Publicity Pioneer Shares 50 Years of Entertaining Inside Stories of Hollywood Royalty,” and “Adventures in PR.”
As Pearlstein turned 103 years old, the Public Relations Society of America decided to bestow its lifetime achievement award on him.
He is survived by his sons David and Frank and daughters-in-law, Karen, Cathie and Helaine; and his grandchildren. A third son, Howard, helped run Lee & Assocs. with Leo and Frank. He died in 2023 at the age of 74.
Services for Pearlstein are slated for Sept. 21 at 10 a.m. at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles.
Frank Ramos, who headed the PR department for the doomed-to-fail New York Jets for 39 years, died on Jan. 27. He was 87.
He practiced PR for 70 years. We were friends for 30. Here's the wizard I knew.
Andy Stanton, who was director of finance at Stanton PR, died Nov. 12 in New York. He was 39.
Kassie Canter, a media and entertainment PR veteran, died October 24 in New York. She was 67.
Tim Metz, who joined Hill & Knowlton in 1989 after a 23-year career at the Wall Street Journal died Aug. 15. He was 86.
