Elaine Attias (née Mitchell) was born into a Jewish family on 8th June
1928 as the youngest of four children of Anna Copp (1888-1982) and Ed
David Itzhak Mitchell (1889-1985). She studied Economics at the
University of Chicago and later Theatrical Arts at both UCLA and USC.
After graduation, she became an avid political activist for human
rights and social justice and went to work as a journalist for the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union in San Francisco, run by
Harry Bridges, a famous labor leader. She had opportunities later to
collaborate with top directors like Martin Scorsese as a documentary
producer and made films on immigrants to the US especially the West,
and on heart disease among American children, which earned her seven
international film awards. Elaine Attias served as Vice President of
Tantalus Production and the National Communications Foundation (LA).
She is also a board member of Human Rights Watch, PEN-USA, the American
Jewish Committee, University of Elections and Creative Exchange and
Center for Creative Communities. She is a member of the International
Woman's Forum, founder of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art,
and President of the Attias Family Foundation.
