Ivan Reitman is the son of Reitman and Clara Reitman. Ivan Reitman OC was a Czechoslovak-born Canadian-American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. He was best known for his comedy work, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998.

Leslie Reitman

Leslie was born in 1914 in the Czechoslovakian hamlet of Slapcany, near Bratislava. Gustav, his father, flourished as a grain broker. Leslie first saw his father when he was three years old. Gustav was served in the military during World War I.

In his absence, his mother Cecelia, a devout Catholic, oversaw the household, raising four sons and managing the family company. Leslie was forced to work in the grain industry at the age of fifteen while concurrently attending school.

He had a pivotal year in 1937. Due to military service requirements, he was forced into the Czech Army. His mother was killed in a car accident.  Leslie first encountered Clara Raab in Komarno, Czechoslovakia, a month later.

Clara Reitman

Clara was born in Komarno, Czechoslovakia on October 2, 1919. The Raab family, loyal Hungarians, had lived in this town for centuries before the First World War when it was known as Komarom and was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the town center, the family had a textile shop.

Clara, 16, met 21-year-old Leslie Reitman on Mother’s Day in 1937; they courted and intended to marry in the fall of 1938, but fate intervened. Leslie was drafted into the Czech Army following Germany’s takeover of Austria in March of that year. Clara was separated from Leslie.