Brookline's David Kleiler, Who Helped Save The Coolidge, Dies

BROOKLINE, MA — Brookline resident and champion of independent film and a key figure in saving the Coolidge Corner theatre in the 1980s from redevelopment, David Kleiler died Monday. He was 79. Friends and family of the historic theatre's first executive director gathered Tuesday night to watch as a tribute to him went up on the marquee.

"David was like the pillar of the local film scene," said Katherine Tallman the current executive director of The Coolidge. "We often say, there's just a vibe in there in Movie House 1, from 86 years of laughing and crying and the bombing of Pearl Harbor being announced on the stage there. And I will just say, David has just been and always will be part of the gestalt of movie house 1."

The some 100 people then held hands and in an impromptu nod to his grassroots efforts to help save the theatre in 1989 they recreated a "hug" of the building.

In 1988, when the historic Coolidge Corner Theatre was facing financial ruin and was on the cusp of being demolished, Kleiler championed to raise funds to purchase the theater and found a nonprofit called the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation. The group's efforts caught the eye of Harold Brown a Boston real estate magnate living in Brookline. Brown cut a deal: Hamilton Charitable Foundation would buy the theater and lease it to the Coolidge Foundation for 99 years. On November 8, 1989, Kleiler cut a celluloid ribbon to mark the reopening of the Coolidge Corner Theatre.

Kleiler turned the theatre into a nonprofit and was the first executive director theatre from 1989 to 1993.

"He had a lifetime membership, that's only given to someone who's really made a significant contribution here. That says something about how he was regarded, but it also meant he was able to be here a lot," said Tallman

But it didn't seem to go to his head, she said.

"Any time he talked about the history, he never said 'I', he always said 'we.' That means a lot," said Tallman.

And recently she spotted him sitting on the steps outside of one of the theatres and asked him what he was doing. He told her the show he wanted to see was sold out, and he was waiting to see if he could get in. She ushered him in to help find him a seat.

"He was just here all the time, but never really wanted any special treatment," she said. "Some people would be like 'do you know who I am?' Not David."

He was also a film teacher at Babson College in Wellesley, founding member of the Brookline Arts Council and the founder of the Boston Underground Film Festival, which began in 1998.

"David was such a lovely person," Devra Sari Zabot posted to BUFF's Facebook site. "I am so glad I got to be in his orbit and be influenced by his positivity, generosity and love for cinema arts. His legacy is far and wide and will last for years."

Kleiler held regular film salons at his home, inviting film lovers to come watch movies with him and discuss them.

"For many, he was an indispensable part of Boston’s movie culture — a fount of keen enthusiasm, knowledge, good taste, and know-how," said The Arts Fuse Editor Bill Marx.

Kleiler also taught at Emerson College, UMass Boston, Tufts University and the Boston Architectural Center. He ran an organization called Local Sighting, dedicated to promoting independent film work. He was born on Jan. 15, 1940, and grew up in Maryland. He was in the class of 1961 at Georgetown University where he studied philosophy and English. He went on to New York University where he got his masters in cinema studies in 1976, according to his Facebook page.

In his own words:

Today, the theatre is part of the heart of Brookline's Coolidge Corner and greater Boston's cultural scene.For more on the early history of movie theaters in Brookline, see Ken Liss’ articles at BrooklineHistory.blogspot.com.