Claire Rothman, a trailblazing sports and entertainment industry executive indelibly tied to the Los Angeles Lakers during their 1980s heyday, has died.
Family members confirmed her death, on Saturday, was due to complications from a fall. She was 97.
As the president and general manager of the “Fabulous Forum,” Rothman was pivotal 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.
Jeanie Buss, the daughter of former Lakers owner Jerry Buss — who after the recent sale of the team acts as its governor in NBA meetings — lamented the loss of Rothman, a woman she said shaped her career.
“Claire paved the way for women working in live entertainment. She was tenacious, creative and indomitable. My father always described her as the MVP who championed the Fabulous Forum as the West Coast concert rival to the legendary Madison Square Garden,” Buss said Sunday evening.
Claire Rothman, right, and Jeanie Buss.
(Linda Rambis)
“For me personally, she was a mentor and a guide, 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 major influences in my life.”
Rothman, hired in 1975 by Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke, became the vivacious president and general manager of the Forum during a pivotal moment in the Lakers history. She was frequently seen around town wearing the many championship rings that the team won during her tenure.
Lakers legend Magic Johnson described Rothman as a second mother when he joined the team in 1979, quick with a hug, a smile and advice, and a tenacious negotiator. He described her as possessing “magic” in her business acumen and other attributes.
“The Lakers wouldn’t be the Lakers without her. People got to remember that,” he said, adding that she was critical to not only growing revenue and the team’s brand, but also making the Forum a popular venue for events such as concerts and boxing matches. “She was like superwoman and that’s for real. She was doing all those things and doing them exceptionally well.”
Johnson added that Rothman was one of the best-dressed women in Los Angeles, with a scarf to match every outfit.
“We all was like, ‘Claire be dressing,’” he said.
Rothman was a prominent character in the HBO series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” played by actor Gaby Hoffmann.
“I mean, she broke barriers that people didn’t think would ever be broken and she kicked ass and was notorious and well-known in her line of work for being that girl,” Rebecca Bertuch, a writer for the show, told The Times in 2022.
Prior to being hired by the Forum, Rothman worked at the Philadelphia Spectrum, the Wild Kingdom theme park in Florida and Cleveland Coliseum. When Cooke 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 up the ladder to the top perch, noted Karen Rothman, an artist.
“All of her first cousins got to college on the GI bill after Korea,” her daughter said. “She was the only one who only went to high school; She surpassed them all. When I say my mother was brilliant, I mean it.”
Rothman has been recognized for her role in professional sports at a time when women were not commonplace or were treated poorly.
“I’m not exactly quiet,” Rothman is quoted as saying during a speech in a 1985 profile in The Times. “I am the only woman in the United States who runs a major sports arena. I have a variety of duties. I book the building. I schedule the sports. The box office answers to me, all the staffing answers to me, and at night I get to play hostess.”
She brought big-name acts such as Prince to the Forum and developed relationships with entertainers including Linda Ronstadt, Neil Diamond and Lionel Richie.
“Many building managers will not meet artists in their entire lives,” Larry Vallon, then-vice president of the Universal Amphitheatre, told The Times in 1985. “In Claire’s case, artists go out of their way to meet her. She has an incredible reputation in the industry.”
She also served on the board of several philanthropic organizations, including City of Hope and the Music Center.
It was a remarkable position for a woman whose family had humble beginnings in this country.
Rothman’s family fled Romanian pogroms against Jewish people at the turn of the 20th century, immigrating to Philadelphia, according to Magda Peck, a cousin of Rothman’s mother.
“What I remember about Claire was how important family was to her and how close she was with my mother and the other 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 couple of weeks ago.
“She said, ‘Promise me that you’ll stay close to the cousins,’” Peck said. “Before she’s famous, before she’s the mother of the Lakers family, [she prioritized] the value of extended family.”
Preceded in death by her husband of 39 years, Bevery Hills eye surgeon Edwin Hill, Rothman died in Las Vegas, where she had moved after leaving Southern California. She is survived by her two children, three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.