Irwin Donenfeld

Donenfeld's last few years were marred by health problems. He died in 2004 of heart failure at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Donenfeld was the recipient of a 2001 Inkpot Award.

In 1967, Kinney National Company acquired National Periodical Publications (a.k.a. DC Comics), which shortly led to the ouster of Donenfeld from the company. He moved to Westport, Connecticut, eventually becoming involved in the maritime business (Coastwide Marina)

A 1966 Batman TV show on the ABC network sparked a temporary spike in comic book sales, and a brief fad for superheroes in Saturday morning animation (Filmation created most of DC's initial cartoons) and other media. DC significantly lightened the tone of many DC comics — particularly Batman and Detective Comics — to better complement the "camp" tone of the TV series. This tone coincided with the infamous "Go-Go Checks" checkerboard cover-dress which featured a black-and-white checkerboard strip at the top of each comic, a misguided attempt by then-managing editor Donenfeld to make DC's output "stand out on the newsracks."

Donenfeld became the company's executive vice president in 1958. In 1964 he gave editors Julius Schwartz and top artist Carmine Infantino a deadline of six months to turn the then-flagging Batman comic around, or it would be cancelled. Jettisoning such lightweight characters as Bat-Mite and Ace the Bat-Hound in favour of Aunt Harriet (the symbolic figure designed to combat Wertham-led claims of implied homosexuality between Batman and Robin), Batman gained his famous yellow chest symbol and moved from operating during the day to truly being a creature of the night.

Becoming the company's editorial director in 1952, in the mid-1950s, Donenfeld and publisher Liebowitz directed editor Julius Schwartz (whose roots lay in the science-fiction book market) to produce a one-shot Flash story in the try-out title Showcase. Instead of reviving the old character, Schwartz had writers Robert Kanigher and John Broome, penciler Carmine Infantino, and inker Joe Kubert create an entirely new super-speedster, updating and modernizing the Flash's civilian identity, costume, and origin with a science-fiction bent. The Flash's reimagining in Showcase #4 (October 1956) proved sufficiently popular that it soon led to a similar revamping of the Green Lantern character, the introduction of the modern all-star team Justice League of America (JLA), and many more superheroes, heralding what historians and fans call the Silver Age of comic books.

Donenfeld joined DC (officially known by its parent company name National Periodical Publications; although it is generally understood to stand for Detective Comics, Irwin insisted in an early 21st Century interview that DC actually stood for Donenfeld Comics) in 1948 at the age of 22, becoming a co-owner with his father and Jack S. Liebowitz. A recent college graduate, he was already married and had a child.

Donenfeld was married three times. His first marriage was to Arlene Levy in 1946. The marriage ended in divorce in 1961. His second marriage (in 1963) was to Alice Greenbaum, an attorney and divorcee. Bob Kane had introduced them. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1970. Donenfeld's last marriage, in 1970, was to Carole Schnapp, the niece of fellow DC co-owner Jack Liebowitz. Donenfeld's sister Sonia was married for a time to American Comics Group co-owner Fred Iger. (Iger later married Irwin Donenfeld's ex-wife Arlene.)

Donenfeld was born in the Bronx, New York, to a Romanian-Jewish family. A teenager when Superman and Batman debuted in 1938/1939, and son of the characters' publisher, Donenfeld often claimed he was the first kid in America to read the adventures of two of the world's most famous superheroes.

Irwin Donenfeld was born on March 1, 1926 in Bronx, New York, USA.