Film producer Howard Rosenman was taking a late-night walk near his home in West Hollywood on Aug. 4, following his doctor鈥檚 advice to get more exercise. It was 11:30 p.m. on a beautiful summer night. Huntley Drive, near Melrose Avenue, was filled with the scent of jacaranda and jasmine. Then, without warning, he felt something poking him in his back.听
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what it was 鈥� maybe a gun or a cane, I had no idea, but I turned around instantly and saw two Black men, about 30 years old,鈥� recalled Rosenman. 鈥淭hey said, 鈥楪ive me your wallet.鈥� I was so shocked that I handed it to them, but as I did, the Israeli in me came out and I started to kick the s鈥� out of them. Me, an 81-year-old man against these two young men.鈥�
There was no one on the street at that time of night, and Rosenman knew it would be up to him to fend for himself. He had never been in a fight before and had led a quiet life. He felt safe in the West Hollywood neighborhood, where he had walked alone at night many times before.听
Rosenman was born in Brooklyn to Israeli parents who had immigrated from Jerusalem. His father was born in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim, while his mother鈥檚 family lived in Jerusalem for six generations.
After moving to New York, his parents raised their children as Modern Orthodox Jews. Rosenman studied medicine for three years, but when the Six-Day War broke out in Israel in June 1967, he left medical school to serve as an external medic with the Israel Defense Forces.
Aside from that brief stint in the Israeli military, Rosenman had never found himself in such a frightening situation. He had $300 in his wallet and several credit cards. But, he said, it wasn’t so much the money he wanted to protect as an instinct that took over. As his credit cards scattered on the ground along with his wallet, the fight continued.
鈥淚 got so crazy, I went off my rocker. They were terrified,鈥� he said with a chuckle. 鈥淥ne of them had a gold necklace, and I grabbed it and ripped it off his neck. He screamed, and I saw blood coming out. Then I ripped off his shirt.鈥�
Eventually, his attackers fled, and Rosenman made his way home, bleeding and bruised. At first, he thought he was fine, but the following day he began feeling unwell and lost consciousness.听 He went about two days without eating or drinking. His next-door neighbor, sensing something was wrong when Rosenman failed to answer the door, called 911.听 Rosenman remembers waking up in the ambulance, not knowing how he had gotten there.
鈥淭hey took me to Cedars-Sinai, where I stayed for two weeks, and then I went to rehab. I recently got out.鈥�
He reported the attack to the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station and handed deputies the gold necklace he had ripped from one of his attackers. Rosenman said his was not the first such attack in the area, nor the last. 鈥淭here were a few attacks in that exact area. They target gay guys because they think we wouldn鈥檛 put up a fight,鈥� said Rosenman.
Rosenman’s attack was not an isolated incident. In recent months, West Hollywood has seen a series of street robberies and violent assaults.听 In September, another attack was reported in the Rainbow district, a man was struck in the face with a glass bottle outside Revolver Video Bar, while another altercation involving a security guard and a customer took place at Mother Lode. The incidents prompted calls for increased security and additional sheriff’s patrols in the area.
On Oct. 2, a man was shot on the sidewalk near Holloway Drive in an incident investigated as an assault with a deadly weapon, with witnesses suggesting it may have been an attempted robbery. In another incident, three suspects surrounded a pedestrian near Cynthia Street and Weatherly Drive and used force to steal his watch.听
On Oct. 8, actor Keegan Allen, known for 鈥淧retty Little Liars,鈥� was robbed outside a grocery store on Santa Monica Boulevard by two masked men, one armed with a gun and the other with a knife. One of the assailants struck him in the head with the gun before stealing his Rolex and bracelet.
听Four days later, four masked men confronted two men getting into their car on Poinsettia Place, pointed what appeared to be a firearm at them and demanded their belongings; four suspects were subsequently arrested.听
Rosenman has been producing films since the 1970s. His credits include 鈥淪parkle鈥� (1976), 鈥淩esurrection鈥� (1980), 鈥淔ather of the Bride鈥� (1991), 鈥淏uffy the Vampire Slayer鈥� (1992) and 鈥淭he Family Man鈥� (2000). He executive-produced 鈥淐ommon Threads: Stories from the Quilt鈥� (1989), which won an Academy Award and a Peabody Award, and 鈥淭he Celluloid Closet鈥� (1995), which earned him a second Peabody. One of his best-known films is 鈥淐all Me by Your Name鈥�听 (2017).
鈥淚 discovered Timoth茅e Chalamet,鈥� Rosenman said.
He also appeared as an actor in Gus Van Sant鈥檚 鈥滿ilk鈥� (2008), about gay rights activist Harvey Milk.
Rosenman is now back home and continues to work. His latest project is 鈥淩esilient,鈥� a documentary directed by Chava Floryn that examines the psychological toll of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and the ways Israelis are coping with collective trauma. Floryn, a somatic healer and PTSD survivor, brings her own personal experience to the film, weaving together stories of loss, grief and recovery with insights from neuropsychologists, therapists, social workers, military figures, first responders and survivors.听
Rosenman is also producing a documentary with Israeli filmmaker Yariv Mozer (鈥淲e Will Dance Again鈥�).
Asked whether he is now afraid to walk alone at night in the streets of West Hollywood, Rosenman replied: 鈥淚 did a film with Barbra Streisand, 鈥楾he Main Event,鈥� in 1979. Nothing can scare me.鈥�
