Orin Lehman

Orin Allan Lehman (January 24, 1920 – February 22, 2008) was an American public servant who served as New York State’s longest-serving commissioner of New York State Office of Parks and Recreation.

Early life Lehman was born to a Jewish family of German-Jewish origins in Manhattan on January 24, 1920, the son of Evelyn (née Schiffer) (1893–1970) and Allan Lehman (1885–1952). He was the great-grandson of Mayer Lehman and great-nephew of Herbert H. Lehman, former New York governor and United States senator. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart.

In 1965, he unsuccessfully ran for New York City comptroller in 1965 and in 1966, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress. Before their divorce, they were the parents of one daughter:

Susan Lehman Carmichael (born 1965), who married Trent Carmichael in 1992.

In 1970, he married for the second time, to Wendy Maria Vanderbilt (1939–2016), daughter of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. Before their divorce in 1995, they were the parents of two daughters:

He was in an eight-year relationship with comedian Joan Rivers.

In 1970, he tried his hand at producing the off-Broadway play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindel, which won the Pulitzer Prize for best drama.

Lehman died on February 22, 2008, of pneumonia, at his home in Manhattan. His partner at the time was actress Monique Van Vooren.