Frank Gehry Page 1

Frank Owen Goldberg was born on February 28th 1929, in Toronto Canada. He then moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1950’s. Frank Goldberg was Jewish and Polish and his family was very into their heritage. Frank spent many nights in his Grandmother’s house that seemed like his best friend. Frank’s parents were Thelma and Irving Goldberg. Frank’s father who was born to Polish immigrants lived in Brooklyn. Irving moved to Canada and worked job to job which is when he met his first wife who then became Frank’s mother.

Franks father, Irving, fought for money on the streets and Frank picked that up at a later age. Frank was a boxer and participated in full contact Karate. Frank went to a Hebrew school and was a good student, where he enjoyed math. Frank worked at his grandfather’s hardware store and was amazed at the tools around him. His grandmother would let him take home scraps and they would build cities together. Frank’s family then relocated to Timmins, Ontario where he was bullied because of his religious faith in Judaism. They would call him “fish”, saying he smelled. This discouraged Frank so he decided to drop his religion and explore atheism. Although he was teased, “fish” became the inspiration for some of his creations.

Frank’s father became sick so his family moved to Los Angeles, California. His family was struggling to pay their bills. He worked as a delivery truck man. This way he met Anita Snyder who he married in 1952. This is when he changed his last name with his family’s permission to Gehry. He then had two daughters with his wife, Anita. He divorced Anita in 1966 and got remarried to Berta Isabel Aquilera, an immigrant from Panama in 1976, they then had two sons.