Melvin "Mel" Asch, former assistant publicity director at Warner Bros. Pictures in Burbank and who also held key publicity posts in New York with other studios, died Jan. 5 at his home in Santa Monica after a brief illness. He was 77.
While working at 20th Century Fox in the 1960s he served as unit publicist on the studio's "Tony Rome," which starred Frank Sinatra. During the filming of this picture, Sinatra and he became friends, and the singer-actor insisted to the Fox studio bosses that Asch be assigned to any and all Fox pictures he made thereafter -- and Mel was, going on to serve as UP on the "Tony Rome" sequel, "Lady In Cement."
Asch also created and developed campaigns for numerous pictures, including "Cinderella Liberty," "11 Harrowhouse," "Zardoz," "Conrack," "Spys," "Harry & Tonto," "Sounder," "Planet of the Apes," "The Pink Panther," "Modern Problems" and "10." He later served as public relations director for the Lorsch Group and the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the National Safety Council.
Brooklyn native and WWII Army Air Force vet earned a B.A. in journalism from the U. of Illinois and a master's in political Science from the U. of Minnesota, and began as a reporter for the Indianapolis Times, the Waterbury (Conn.) Tribune and elsewhere before moving into publicity in New York at Fox, MGM and Universal.
He is survived by a daughter and son and was the great-nephew of writer Sholem Asch.
Services were private.
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