Cy Leslie, who served as a Songwriters Hall of Fame Board Member since the 1980’s and its Vice Chair since 1999, passed away at his home in Long Island on Sunday, January 6th. Leslie also contributed to plans for the Songhall museum, bringing his considerable expertise and wide network of professional contacts to the task.
Born Seymour Marvin Leslie, this legendary executive was a pioneer in the music industry. His long career began with his founding of an innovative pre-recorded greeting card service that, in 1946, turned into Voco Records, a children’s label.
In 1953 he founded and was chairman of Pickwick Records, leaving his mark on the industry when they entered the LP market, providing lower priced records with the goal of making music more affordable, and carrying such artists as Elvis Presley and Lou Reed. As president of the CBS Video Enterprises and founder and chairman of MGM Home Video, he played a formative role in the development of the home video industry, Pay-TV, licensing and other ancillary growth markets derived from the film industry.
In the midst of making inroads in the music industry, he still gave generously of his time to various civic and humanitarian causes as a member of the boards of many public, private and not-for-profit corporations. Some of these included the Harvard Business School Club of New York, the American Cancer Research Center, B’Nai B’rith and the Anti-Defamation League. He served on the board of the Friar’s Foundation was one of the original members of the Board of Trustees of the Five Towns College when it was chartered in 1972. TIME magazine has presented him with the Home Viewer/TIME magazine Man-of –the-Year award for special achievement among record and home video executives.
“Cy’s generosity of spirit, along with a quick smile and ready handshake endeared him to everyone,” said Hal David, Songwriters Hall of Fame Chairman and CEO. “He was an esteemed and integral part of our Board of Directors, and a friend to all who knew him. He will be greatly missed.”
Leslie is survived by his wife Barbara and his three daughters Ellen, Carol and Janie, and his grandchildren, Julie, David, Sara and Ben.
Funeral services were scheduled for Tuesday, January 8th near his home in Woodmere, New York.