Harold Matzner , the philanthropist, businessman and cultural architect known as “Mr. Palm Springs ” who transformed the Southern California desert city and revived its film festival, died Thursday in Palm Springs after a brief illness. He was 88.

Born on July 4, 1937, in Newark, NJ, Matzner worked as a sportswriter before turning his attention to marketing. He founded the direct-mail advertising film CBA Industries and remained its CEO into his 80s.

He found Palm Springs in the 1985 and soon made the city about 110 miles east of Los Angeles his focus. During the next four decades, he donated more than $85 million to local nonprofits, championed the arts and helped revive the city’s lagging film festival. He also was Chairman of the Palm Springs International Film Society.

In 1999, h

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