Religious Leader. Rabbi of the B'nai B'rith (later Wilshire Boulevard Temple) congregation in Los Angeles for 65 years. He was nicknamed the "Rabbi to the Stars" for his association with noted film and TV celebrities. The grandson of department store founder I. Magnin, he was born in San Francisco and educated at Hebrew Union College in Cincinatti, where he was ordained in 1913. Returning to California, he founded Temple Beth Israel in Fresno and became rabbi of Stockton in 1914. The following year he was named associate rabbi of L.A.'s B'nai B'rith and assumed full leadership in 1919. A Reform liberal in his religious views (though politically conservative), Magnin promoted interfaith unity and stronger participation in civic affairs, and presided over the construction of the landmark Wilshire Boulevard Temple, completed in 1929. As a Hebrew scholar he was awarded honorary degrees from USC, Pepperdine, and several other universities. But it was his status as spiritual advisor to Hollywood's rich and famous that helped make him a high-profile religious figure in the United States. He performed the wedding rites of actress Norma Shearer and MGM tycoon Irving Thalberg in 1927, and the funeral ceremonies for Thalberg, studio moguls Louis B. Mayer, Harry Cohn, and Adolph Zukor, and stars Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny, and George Jessel, while his friends in the show biz community ranged from Cecil B. DeMille to Bob Hope. Magnin participated in the inaugural ceremonies of Presidents Richard Nixon (1969) and Ronald Reagan (1981). Asked to sum up his life in a 1983 interview, he replied, "God has been good to me".
Religious Leader. Rabbi of the B'nai B'rith (later Wilshire Boulevard Temple) congregation in Los Angeles for 65 years. He was nicknamed the "Rabbi to the Stars" for his association with noted film and TV celebrities. The grandson of department store founder I. Magnin, he was born in San Francisco and educated at Hebrew Union College in Cincinatti, where he was ordained in 1913. Returning to California, he founded Temple Beth Israel in Fresno and became rabbi of Stockton in 1914. The following year he was named associate rabbi of L.A.'s B'nai B'rith and assumed full leadership in 1919. A Reform liberal in his religious views (though politically conservative), Magnin promoted interfaith unity and stronger participation in civic affairs, and presided over the construction of the landmark Wilshire Boulevard Temple, completed in 1929. As a Hebrew scholar he was awarded honorary degrees from USC, Pepperdine, and several other universities. But it was his status as spiritual advisor to Hollywood's rich and famous that helped make him a high-profile religious figure in the United States. He performed the wedding rites of actress Norma Shearer and MGM tycoon Irving Thalberg in 1927, and the funeral ceremonies for Thalberg, studio moguls Louis B. Mayer, Harry Cohn, and Adolph Zukor, and stars Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny, and George Jessel, while his friends in the show biz community ranged from Cecil B. DeMille to Bob Hope. Magnin participated in the inaugural ceremonies of Presidents Richard Nixon (1969) and Ronald Reagan (1981). Asked to sum up his life in a 1983 interview, he replied, "God has been good to me".
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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