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Gerald
Levin and Ed Bleier
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UJA-Federation
Recognizes
Integrity
As Performance
By
TIM BOXER
UNIQUE invocation was
offered at a UJA-Federation dinner as Henry Schleiff intoned:
“They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat!”
A formidable roster of
media types jammed the Waldorf-Astoria ballroom as the Steven J.
Ross Humanitarian Award was presented to two honchos of the
entertainment and media worlds -
Martin Pompadur, executive vice president of Rupert
Murdoch’s News Corp., and Edward Bleier, president of
Warner Bros. Pay-TV, cable and network features.
Marty
Pompadur and
Howard Rubenstein |
After dinner, Roone
Arledge, the ABC-TV sports honcho who anchored the program,
called upon New York Times columnist William Safire
and comedienne Joy Behar.
Roone said his role is
similar to Ed Sullivan of whom it was said: He would survive
as long as other people have talent.
In identifying the
qualities that Bleier has shown which deserve a UJA-Federation
award, Safire said, “What can you say about a man who spent his
entire life selling Loony Tunes?”
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Mr.
And Mrs. Ed Bleier and Mr. And Mrs.
William Safire
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Actually, Bleier’s
success hinges on his belief that “integrity doesn’t hinder
performance – integrity is performance.”
PR
maven Howard Rubenstein, co-chair of UJA-Federation
Entertainment, Media & Communications Division, announced the
establishment of a summer camp scholarship named for Bleier and
Pompadur. That pleased the two honorees, who helped bring in $3
million during the evening.
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