Martin Greenfield, who survived Auschwitz during World War II and went on to become a tailor to presidents and Hollywood movie stars, has died. He was 95 years old.
He was born Maximilian Grünfeld on August 9, 1928, in what is now western Ukraine but was then part of Czechoslovakia.
His family was prosperous but when World War II broke out and the Germans their area, all were sent to the notorious Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. His father, mother, two sisters and brother were all killed in the Holocaust.
However, in that time that haunted Greenfield for the rest of his life, he worked at the camp’s alterations shop, fixing up Nazi troops’ shirts but sparking his love for making clothes.
After being set free in 1945, he moved to the United States in 1947, with $10 and no ability to speak English.
Martin Greenfield, who survived Auschwitz during World War II and went on to become a tailor to presidents and Hollywood movie stars, has died. He was 95 years old
He soon changed his name to Martin Greenfield and began perfecting the trade that would make him a tailor to politicians, Hollywood stars and even notorious gangsters.
A fellow refugee and childhood friend connected him with a job at the Brooklyn clothier GGG, where he began working as a floor boy but practiced at every job the factory had to offer, according to the New York Times.
He made the dark observation in his memoir: ‘If the Nazis taught me anything, it was that a laborer with indispensable skills is less likely to be discarded.’
Greenfield grew close to William P. Goldman, the founder and president of the company, who – after years as a sewer and fitter – made him a ‘suit doctor,’ which connected him to clients and friends like Frank Sinatra.
One of his earliest clients was Dwight D. Eisenhower, then the president at Columbia University and astonishingly, someone Greenfield met when the future Commander in Chief toured Auschwitz, according to NBC News.
Eventually, in 1977, he bought the company and named it for himself. That began a career of working for everybody who was anybody in American culture.
Some of the names thanked in his 2014 memoir include presidents Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and future presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
He unintentionally became part of a controversy by designing the tan suit Obama wore in 2014 that caused the White House press corps to ignore questions about Syria and Iraq and question the outfit.
His family was prosperous but when World War II broke out and the Germans their area, all were sent to the notorious Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. His father, mother, two sisters and brother were all killed in the Holocaust. Greenfield is pictured in the center
He soon changed his name to Martin Greenfield and began perfecting the trade that would make him a tailor to politicians, Hollywood stars and even notorious gangsters
Eventually, in 1977, he bought the company and named it for himself. That began a career of working for everybody who was anybody in American culture
Greenfield unintentionally became part of a controversy by designing the tan suit Obama wore in 2014 that caused the White House press corps to ignore questions about Syria and Iraq and question the outfit
He even notoriously was a tailor to athletes like LeBron James (pictured), Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and the 7-foot tall Shaquille O’Neal
Other political dignitaries he worked with included former Secretary of State Colin Powell and New York City Mayors Michael Bloomberg and Ed Koch.
In addition to Sinatra, Greenfield dressed the likes of Martin Scorsese, Denzel Washington and Michael Jackson.
He even notoriously was a tailor to athletes like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and the 7-foot tall Shaquille O’Neal.
Towards the end of his career he began to work for movies and TV shows, even dressing an actor who played him on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire and dressing Leonardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby.
Despite all the famous people and luminaries he made suits for, none may be as famous as the red suit he created for Joaquin Phoenix in 2019’s The Joker.
Greenfield joked that making Shaq’s suits ‘required enough suit fabric to make a small tent.’
He even made clothing for the famous gangster Meyer Lansky, the Jewish mobster influential in building the National Crime Syndicate.
‘I met him once at the hotel,’ Greenfield said. ‘He was a very nice guy to me, and I knew he was in charge. That’s all I’m saying!’
Greenfield wrote about his incredible life story in his 2014 memoir
Despite all the famous people and luminaries he made suits for, none may be as famous as the red suit he created for Joaquin Phoenix in 2019’s The Joker
Towards the end of his career he began to work for movies and TV shows, even dressing an actor who played him on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire
Even newer stars were familiar with Greenfield’s work, like Zac Efron
Greenfield was also credited with dressing Leonardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby
Eventually, he passed on his business to his sons Tod and Jay, whom he had with his wife Arlene, who survives him. The family lived in North Hills on Long Island’s Nassau County.
Greenfield lived the rest of his life with his inmate number tattooed on him by the Nazis and tried to ‘live for’ his family, as his father told him before they were separated.
‘And that’s what he did,’ his son Tod said.