William M. Kramer

William Mordecai Kramer (March 29, 1920 – June 8, 2004) was an American rabbi, university professor and art collector.

[1] He returned to Case Western, where he earned a master's degree in Education and Social Work.

[2] It was there that he conducted the interracial wedding of African-American singer and dancer Sammy Davis Jr. with Swedish-born actress May Britt on November 13, 1960.

[2] During his rabbinate at Temple Beth Emet, he also conducted a weekly minyan, or prayer, at Congregation Adat Shalom in Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles.

[6] Thrapp regretted that the book was so "parochial" as it only dealt with the "American West" instead of the construct of the "frontier".

[8] He called it, "a readable, well researched, biography of a gifted early San Francisco artist.

[2][9] As an actor, he starred in The Seventh Sign, a 1988 biblical movie with Demi Moore.

[1] He donated most of his collection to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

[1] Some of the artwork he donated include Hula Drum (Tambor), a 1950 print by Jean Charlot,[11] Verona, a 1951 print by Eugene Berman,[12] Head by Max Weber and E. Weyhe,[13] an untitled street scene by Ludwig Meidner,[14] another untitled print by Jakob Steinhardt,[15] and Adam and Eve by Max Beckmann.

[1] Most of this collection was donated by Kramer to the Skirball Cultural Center and the Western Jewish History Association.

[1][2] He died of diabetes-related complications at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.