Lee Donowitz (1940-1993) was an American Hollywood film producer who was best-known for his Vietnam War film Coming Home In a Body Bag.
Biography[]
Lee Donowitz was born in 1940, the son of US Army soldier Donny Donowitz, who was killed in action during World War II. Donowitz went on to become a film producer in Hollywood, where he competed with big-name film producers by making war films with special attention paid to accuracy. His late 1980s war film Coming Home In a Body Bag was a major success; by 1993, his films had made $2.8 billion. Donowitz also participated in the trafficking of cocaine to Hollywood stars, making a side fortune through his illicit dealings.
In 1993, he agreed to purchase $500,000 worth of cocaine from his protege Elliot Blitzer's acquaintance Clarence Worley for $200,000, meeting with Worley at the Beverly Ambassador hotel. Donowitz took a liking to Worley, who was a fan of his films and shared many of Donowitz's interests. However, the deal was crashed by the LAPD, who had wired Blitzer as part of a sting operation, as well as by the Mafia, who sought to reclaim their cocaine from Worley.
Donowitz was initially saddened, and then angered, at Blitzer's betrayal after Blitzer addressed one of the policemen by name and asked for permission to leave, and Donowitz proceeded to throw hot coffee on Blitzer. Detective Cody Nicholson responded by shooting Donowitz, escalating the situation and resulting in a three-way shootout between Donowitz's bodyguards, the LAPD, and the Mafia in which Blitzer and almost all of the other participants were killed.