Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive.

Silver began his career at Lawrence Gordon Productions, where he eventually became president of motion pictures for the company.

Raoul loses his temper at toon Roger Rabbit for seeing tweety birds when a refrigerator crashes on his head, and not stars as the script specified.

Silver is also known for his eccentric temper, inspiring characters based on him in movies such as Grand Canyon, True Romance and I'll Do Anything.

[4] The character of Les Grossman (played by Tom Cruise) in the movie Tropic Thunder, is a parody of Silver.

[5] Actor Rick Moranis parodied Silver on SCTV in the skit The Larry Siegel Talk Show.

Later, in August 2017, Musgrove's family sued Silver and his assistant Martin Herold, arguing the latter had provided her with cocaine, which, along with alcohol consumption and exhaustion from work, they alleged had contributed to her death.