Charles Luckman (May 16, 1909 – January 26, 1999) was an American businessman, property developer, and architect known for designing landmark buildings in the United States such as the Theme Building, Prudential Tower, Madison Square Garden, and The Forum. He was named the "Boy Wonder of American Business" by Time magazine when president of the Pepsodent toothpaste company in 1939. Through acquisition, he later became president of Lever Brothers. Luckman would later collaborate with William Pereira, in which the two would form their architectural firm, Pereira & Luckman, in 1950. Pereira & Luckman would later dissolve by 1958, parting ways for both himself and Pereira. Luckman would continue successfully with his own firm, Charles Luckman Associates. Luckman retired from the firm, although he would still be present. Aside from his business and architectural work, Luckman did public work that dates back during World War II. He was appointed on the President's Committee on Civil Rights during the Truman administration, as well as being the chairman of the Citizens Food Committee and the Freedom Train; both of which helped out Europe. As a result of his work in Europe, Luckman was honored with the Order of St. John, Legion of Honor and Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity. Additionally, Luckman was an active supporter of public education. Luckman died on January 26, 1999, at his home in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 89. Early years Charles Luckman was born on May 16, 1909, in Kansas City, Missouri, to an immigrant family, his father came from Germany and his mother from Yugoslavia. At age nine, he began selling newspapers outside the Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City at Eleventh and Baltimore. Luckman recalls that, after the second or third week he was working at the newsstand, he asked a woman passing by about what the "pretty lights" hanging down the ceiling were called. She told the young Luckman that they were called chandeliers. He then asked a second question to the same woman on who decided to place them. She responds, "An architect. He designs the hotel and says to put the chandeliers there." Luckman wrote in his memoir, "Right then and there I decided to become an architect." In 1920, Luckman found work as a stock boy in the men's furnishings department at a Jones Store Company. He later went on as a junior salesman for about a year