November 8, 2021 — Los Angeles, CA
It is with a heavy heart that we share that our friend and former AJC Los Angeles Board Member Bruce Corwin has passed away.
Bruce was a great philanthropist, community leader and person. Bruce was a longtime donor to AJC and, together with his twin sister Bonnie Fuller, established the AJC Corwin Human Relations Award over thirty years ago. Originally named in memory of respected film industry figure, Sherrill C. Corwin, the award was renamed the Dorothy and Sherrill C. Corwin Human Relations Award in 2001 to commemorate Dorothy and Sherrill. The Corwin Award is presented to outstanding leaders in the entertainment and communications industries whose professional and civic endeavors have helped to promote intergroup understanding and cooperation. Among the many distinguished recipients of the award are Clint Eastwood, George Lucas, Ted Turner, Bob Iger, Stephen Spielberg, Marc Graboff and, most recently, Ted Sarandos.
Bruce Corwin was chairman and CEO of Metropolitan Theatres, a privately held company owned by the Corwin family since 1923, now operating in California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and British Columbia. The company began with The Broadway theatre in downtown Los Angeles. In the 1960s, Metropolitan was among the first to venture into Spanish-language film in the LA area, both in subtitle form for American movies and in Spanish for Mexican-produced films.
A lifelong Los Angeles leader in the Democratic Party, Bruce was treasurer for Mayor Tom Bradley’s entire 30-year political career. During that time, his civic and nonprofit leadership positions included president of the board of the Los Angeles City Fire Commission, president of the Variety Boys and Girls Club, and the building of a movie theatre in Watts after the political unrest in 1965. Bruce had a personal connection to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital through those many years of commitment.
Bruce lived with his wife Toni in Beverly Hills. He served on many nonprofit Boards including AJC Los Angeles, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Variety Boys and Girls Club, Temple Israel of Hollywood and Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills. He was involved in the arts in LA and Santa Barbara.
Memories and condolences may be shared to Tributes4Bruce@gmail.com.
May Bruce’s memory be a blessing.
