Maxwell Starkman

Maxwell Starkman was born in 1921 in Toronto, Canada.^[1][2] He served in England, France, Belgium and Germany during World War II.^[1][2] He graduated from the University of Manitoba.^[1][2]

He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1950.^[1] Shortly after, he started working for Richard J. Neutra.^[1] In 1953, he started Reichl and Starkman Architects with fellow architect Fritz Reichl.^[1] After Reichl died in 1954, he established Maxwell Starkman Associates, an architectural firm.^[1] He mostly built tract homes for returning G.I.s.^[2][3]

Later, he built commercial buildings such as shopping malls and drugstores.^[2] For example, he designed the Park Place Shopping Center and the Sunrise City Shopping Center along the Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[2] He also designed the Fallbrook Center in West Hills and some student housing at California State University, Los Angeles. Later in the 1960s, he designed the Melodyland Theater in Anaheim.^[1] Additionally, Starkman designed the Dunes hotel and casino, which was later demolished and replaced with the Bellagio.^[2]

In 1972, he designed the Zenith Tower located at 6300 on Wilshire Boulevard, near Carthay Circle.^[3] It was built for the Zenith National Insurance as a sixteen-story skyscraper.^[3] Later, he designed the Sony Pictures Plaza.^[1] He also designed the Meridian Condominiums, a skyscraper in San Diego. His last design was the Museum of Tolerance.^[1]

He retired in 1987.^[1]

He was married to Gloria Starkman.^[1] They had three sons and one daughter: sons David, Laurence, Robert, and Nancy.^[1] He became a widower when his wife died in 1992.^[1]

He died on December 29, 2003.^[1]

The Maxwell Starkman Scholarship in Architecture at the University of Manitoba is named in his honor.^[4]