Michael Fasman; Attorney Was Active Supporter of Charitable Causeses

Michael J. Fasman, a Beverly Hills attorney known for his support of charitable causes, has died after collapsing at a benefit dinner. He was 90.

Fasman was pronounced dead Sunday in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after taking ill at a dinner for the Venice Family Clinic.

Friends said the scene of his collapse was emblematic of the man--always working to help others. Fasman and his wife, artist and writer Marjorie Lesser Fasman, helped found the clinic, a free primary health care facility for the poor. They worked on annual fund-raisers, hosted dinners for donors in their art-filled Beverly Hills home and served on the board.

Fasman, partner in the Beverly Hills law firm Allen & Fasman since its inception in 1947, also served on the board of the Hereditary Disease Foundation and was on the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation Council. He helped found the Maple Center, a drug control and counseling program in Beverly Hills, and was active in the Jewish Welfare Fund.

As a lawyer, Fasman specialized in real estate and probate law but also handled a general civil practice.

Proudly identifying himself as a lifelong liberal, Fasman worked for such causes as voter registration, the bilateral nuclear freeze initiative, peace movements and such groups as Physicians for Social Responsibility. He also lent financial support to a number of Democratic politicians.

The wealthy benefactor began life as a poor youngster in Chicago. He worked from the age of 12 and graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor’s degree and law degree by the time he was 22.

He began his law career in Chicago, working from 1936 to 1946 for the firm of Turner, Kaplan & Turner. Then he moved to Southern California to start his own firm with Albert H. Allen.

An avid tennis player, Fasman was active in the Beverly Hills Tennis Club and served as its president in 1980.

In addition to his wife of 38 years, Marjorie, Fasman is survived by two daughters from his marriage to the late Betty Spector Fasman, Beryl F. Zimberoff and Barbara Colgrove; two stepdaughters, Fay P. Abrams and Betty P. Rauch, eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

The family has asked that memorial contributions be made to the Venice Family Clinic, 604 Rose Ave., Venice, CA 90291.