Jack Needleman

Jack Needleman, a high school dropout who became one of the Los Angeles garment district's most successful and influential businessmen and property owners, has died. He was 77. Needleman, a major philanthropist who bestowed millions of dollars on USC, the City of Hope and hundreds of charities, died April 25 in Los Angeles of prostate cancer.

Jack Needleman, a high school dropout who became one of the Los Angeles garment district's most successful and influential businessmen and property owners, has died. He was 77. Needleman, a major philanthropist who bestowed millions of dollars on USC, the City of Hope and hundreds of charities, died April 25 in Los Angeles of prostate cancer.

The Olympic Auditorium, home to local boxing since 1925, will go into an immediate hiatus and possibly out of business. Lester Kirschner, who holds the master lease at the Olympic and who sublets to boxing, wrestling and music promoters, confirmed Monday that he was unable to renegotiate a new lease with building owner Jack Needleman. The lease will expire Sept. 30.

The Olympic Auditorium, thought to be facing an uncertain date with the wrecking ball, will instead reopen for regular boxing shows, its owner says. The old boxing palace, at 18th and Grand in Los Angeles, has been boarded up since 1987. But owner Jack Needleman, who bought the building in 1980, says major repairs are under way, and he hopes to have a boxing show for a reopening in May.

The Olympic Auditorium, thought to be facing an uncertain date with the wrecking ball, will instead reopen for regular boxing shows, its owner says. The old boxing palace, at 18th and Grand in Los Angeles, has been boarded up since 1987. But owner Jack Needleman, who bought the building in 1980, says major repairs are under way, and he hopes to have a boxing show for a reopening in May.

Aileen Eaton did not build it or buy it, but in every other way, the Olympic Auditorium was her unchallenged fiefdom. She made the Olympic what it was, and it made her who she was. "Aileen Eaton was a visionary," says publicist Luis Magana, who worked with her during her 38 years at the Olympic. "She was a wonderful woman and she was loved by many and hated by many."

Here are some key dates in the life of the Olympic Auditorium, which will reopen Saturday. * 1924: Jack Doyle, with the help of the Los Angeles Olympic committee for the 1932 Games, builds the Olympic Auditorium. Boxing great Jack Dempsey is on hand for the dedication. * Jan. 13, 1925: The first major card is a Jan. 13, 1925, flyweight bout in which Jimmy McLarnin takes a 10-round decision over Fidel LaBarba.

Three weeks before it abruptly dropped its opposition last spring to the demolition of one of downtown's oldest theaters, the region's most influential preservation group got a $10,000 contribution from the father of the building's owners. Stung by criticism after disclosure of the donation, Los Angeles Conservancy leaders have had to fend off suggestions that a deal was struck with the owners of the California Theater who sought its demolition to make way for a parking lot.

Aspiring young boxers will no longer have to sit in the balcony of the Grand Olympic Auditorium and wonder if they will get to fight. Their chance may come as early as April 29. In addition to staging professional fights, the newly refurbished Grand Olympic Sports Complex will also house a boxing and fitness center for youths from the Central City.

The Olympic Auditorium, home to local boxing since 1925, will go into an immediate hiatus and possibly out of business. Lester Kirschner, who holds the master lease at the Olympic and who sublets to boxing, wrestling and music promoters, confirmed Monday that he was unable to renegotiate a new lease with building owner Jack Needleman. The lease will expire Sept. 30.

Re "An era ends in silence," Column, Aug. 9 Tim Rutten, whose columns are almost always worth reading, cites Mickey Kaus, who is almost never worth reading, to assert that the failure of the media to follow up on the National Enquirer story about John Edwards' affair demonstrates that the media have a double standard favoring Democrats. The charge of a double standard "is largely true, as anyone who recalls the media frenzy over conservative commentator and former Cabinet secretary William Bennett's high-stakes gambling would agree," Rutten writes.

A Christmas gift wish list: For John Robinson, Chuck Knox, Dan Henning, Lindy Infante, Rick Venturi, Jerry Burns, Chuck Noll, Richard Williamson and Sam Wyche--Employment. . . . Magic Johnson--Many more years. . . . Art Shell--A defense. . . . Al Davis--An authorized biography. . . . Tom Webster--Javelin-throwing lessons. . . . Donald Sterling--Clipper games in May. . . . Fay Vincent--Tractor-pull season tickets. . . . John Daly--An 8,000-yard course every week. . . .