Lori Stich Obluda
Posted September 28, 2026
David Mirisch
Class of 1959: The Man behind the Golden Stars
After decades as a Hollywood press agent, David Mirisch published his autobiography “The Man with the Gold Rolox — PR to the Stars” in 2017.
He was born July 24, 1935, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and was close to the entertainment business since birth. His father, Irving Mirisch, was one of the Mirisch brothers, owners of The Mirisch Film Co., which produced 72 feature films, including classics such as as “Some Like It Hot,” “West Side Story,” “Moby Dick,” “The Pink Panther,” “Fiddler on The Roof” and “The Magnificent Seven,” and won 28 Academy Awards and Three Best Picture Awards.
Mirisch and his cousins were kept off the film set and encouraged to take their own paths. For Mirisch, this led to a career in public relations, working with celebrities and later nonprofits.
At Ripon, Mirisch majored in speech communications, served as president of the Student Union Board, was on the tennis and bowling team and served as a head cheerleader. Mirisch was also a member of the Theta Chi fraternity and helped organize a trip to Mexico.
“I loved my days at Ripon College,” he said. “Some of the best years of my life. I was able to bring forth my leadership qualities at Ripon.”
David Mirisch called this “one of my favorite photos from my days at Ripon College (as) head cheerleader. David and his squad of eight of the prettiest and most popular girls on campus.” He went on to produce the California State High School Cheerleading Championships at Six Flags Magic Mountain for 28 years. And in 1978, he put together the first cheerleading squad for the Los Angeles Rams.
After graduating from Ripon, Mirisch was a press agent for more than 500 actors, actresses and performers, including musicians Johnny Mathis, Pat Boone, The Fifth Dimension, Perry Como, Merv Griffin, Della Reese, and Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass; and actors such as Leonard Nimoy, Omar Sharif and Peter Sellers.
He discovered Farrah Fawcett in 1968 when she was a student at the University of Texas, threw infamous and lavish parties for basketball great Wilt Chamberlain, and created campaigns for beautiful and talented young actresses such as Barbara Hershey, Raquel Welch, Barbara Parkins, Ellen Burstyn, Lynda Carter, Barbara Eden and Lindsay Wagner.
Later, as president of David Mirisch Enterprises, he changed his focus to fundraising and organizing events for hundreds of nonprofit organizations throughout the United States and in seven foreign countries. He helped organize more than 2,500 events internationally, working with more than 6,000 Hollywood personalities and well-known athletes to raise $35 million for nonprofit causes.
He died May 7, 2023.