Claire Rothman dies: Forum director during Showtime Family of Lakers

Claire Rothman, a sports and entertainment industry executive who was inextricably linked to the Los Angeles Lakers during their 1980s run, has died.

Family members confirmed her death, on Saturday, was due to complications from the fall. She was 97 years old.

As president and general manager of the “Fantastic Forum,” Rothman was instrumental in bringing big-name musicians to the Inglewood venue and had deep ties to the Lakers when it was the team’s home during the “Showtime” era, when the Lakers won five championships in a decade.

Jenny Buss, the daughter of former Lakers owner Jerry Buss – who serves as its governor at NBA meetings after the team’s recent sale – mourned the loss of Rothman, a woman she said shaped her career.

Buss said Sunday evening: “Claire paved the way for women working in live entertainment. She was fierce, creative and ruthless. My father always described her as the MVP who championed the legendary West Coast concert competition at Madison Square Garden.”

Claire Rothman, right, and Jenny Buss.

(Linda Rambis)

“For me personally, she was a teacher and a mentor, helping me learn and navigate an industry that had never been very open to women in leadership,” Buss said. “I learned an incredible amount from her as an executive and consider her one of the biggest influences in my life.”

Rothman, hired by Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke in 1975, became the Forum’s active president and general manager during a pivotal moment in Lakers history. She was frequently seen around town wearing the many championship rings the team won during her tenure.

Lakers legend Johnson described Rothman as a second mother when he joined the team in 1979, quick with a hug, smile and advice, and a strong negotiator. He described her as having “magic” in her business acumen and other qualities.

“The Lakers wouldn’t be the Lakers without her. People need to remember that,” he said. He added that she was crucial not only to growing revenue and the team’s brand, but also made the forum a popular venue for events such as concerts and boxing matches. “She was like Superwoman and she really is. She did all these things and she did them exceptionally well.”

Johnson added that Rothman was one of the best-dressed women in Los Angeles, with a scarf with every outfit.

He said: “We were all like, ‘Claire is dressing up.

Rothman was an important character in the HBO series “Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Family”, played by actor Gabby Hoffman.

“I mean, she broke barriers that people didn’t think could ever be broken and she knocked it down and was notorious and famous in her line of work as a girl,” Rebecca Bertsch, the show’s writer, told The Times in 2022.

Before being hired by The Forum, Rothman worked at the Philadelphia Spectrum, the Wild Kingdom theme park in Florida and the Cleveland Coliseum. When Cook offered to fly her to Los Angeles for an interview, she accepted because she could use the free flight to visit her son, Barry Rothman, who was studying at Caltech at the time, said daughter Karen Rothman.

She was hired as a bookkeeper and quickly rose to the top of the ladder, recalled Karen Rothman, an artist.

“All her cousins ​​went to another GI college after Korea,” her daughter said. “She was the only one who only went to high school; she passed them all. When I say my mother was brilliant, I mean it.”

Rothman is known for her role in professional sports at a time when women were not common or were mistreated.

“I’m not completely silent,” Rothman said in a 1985 profile in The Times. “I’m the only woman in the United States running a major sports arena. I have different jobs. I book the building, I schedule the sports. The box office answers to me, the entire staff answers to me, and I host the night.”

She brought big names like Prince to the forum and forged relationships with entertainers including Linda Ronstadt, Neil Diamond and Lionel Richie.

“Claire was the mayor of the building,” Ritchie said. “He was the connection to everyone and the personality of the building. He will be greatly missed.”

She also served on the board of several charities, including City of Hope and the Music Center.

It was a remarkable position for a woman whose family had humble beginnings in this country.

The Rothman family fled Romanian pogroms against Jewish people at the turn of the 20th century, immigrating to Philadelphia, according to Rothman’s mother’s cousin, Magda Peck.

“What I remember about Claire was how important family was to her and how close she was to my mom and cousins,” Peck said. “There was something about modeling how women support each other, how cousins ​​are there for each other across generations.”

Peck, a public health expert, last saw Rothman a few weeks ago.

“She said, ‘Promise me you’ll stay close to my cousins,'” Peck said. “Before she was famous, before she was the mother of the Lakers family, [she prioritized] The value of the extended family.

Before the death of her husband of 39 years, Bury Hills eye surgeon Edwin Hill, Rothman died in Las Vegas, where she had moved after leaving Southern California. She is survived by two children, three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.