Avi Arad

Biography:

Avi Arad, whose Hebrew name is was born on August 1, 1948 and went on to become an Israeli-American studio executive and producer of animation, television, and motion pictures. He was the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, the creator, former chairman, and former CEO of Marvel Studios, the company’s successor, before taking over as CEO of Toy Biz in the 1990s. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of the many live-action, animation, and television comic book adaptations he has since produced and occasionally written.

Arad was born into a Jewish household in 1948 in Ramat Gan, Israel. He was raised on Hebrew-translated Superman and Spider-Man comics and is the son of Polish Holocaust survivors. He joined the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a conscript in 1965. He participated in the 1967 Six-Day War, sustained injuries, and recovered for 15 days. Arad served in the military until 1968.

Arad relocated to the US in 1970, where he studied industrial management at Hofstra University. In order to pay for education, he worked as a truck driver and a Hebrew instructor. In 1972, he earned a BBA.