Howard Ruby, ‘Father of Corporate Housing’ and Husband of Yvette Mimieux, Dies at 90

Howard Ruby, the founder of Oakwood Worldwide, the company that provides furnished, extended stay housing, and the husband of late actress Yvette Mimieux, died Monday of natural causes in Los Angeles, a publicist announced. He was 90.

Ruby and Mimieux, known for her turns in such films as Where the Boys Are, Light in the Piazza, Jackson County Jail and Toys in the Attic, were married from December 1986 until her death in January 2022 at age 80.

Mimieux had been married to Singin’ in the Rain director Stanley Donen from 1972 until their 1985 divorce.

Born in Cleveland on March 28, 1935, Ruby graduated from the Wharton School of Business, then joined the U.S. Navy, where he was a supply officer. After the service, he started a real estate partnership in California that led to the formation of R&B Realty Group in 1960.

In 1965, R&B opened the South Bay Club, the first furnished apartments for singles, in Marina del Rey. The concept evolved into fully furnished apartments with household items and housekeeping in the 1970s, and the firm, with locations in 50 states and 86 countries, would go on to become the world’s largest provider of furnished apartments.

In 2014, Fortune magazine dubbed him the “Father of Corporate Housing.” (Oakwood was sold to Singapore-based The Ascott Limited in 2022).

Despite being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited, degenerative eye disease that causes severe vision impairment, Ruby was an avid photographer who took numerous trips to the Arctic to photograph polar bears and cubs.

He was moved to create the Climate Classroom Kids Website and ultimately partnered with the National Wildlife Federation to develop an educational outreach program that used his photographs of melting ice and threatened animals to point out the threat of global warming.

Ruby, who also donated photos to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and to the University of California Santa Barbara School of Environmental Sciences, was named the 2007 Conservation Photographer of the Year by the NWF.

His philanthropic efforts also included a gift to the University of Iowa Institute for Vision Research to accelerate its efforts to create living retinal grafts from patient-derived stem cells.

As his retinitis pigmentosa progressed, Ruby began rowing and competed in competitions until he was in his late 80s.

Survivors include his children, Steven, Michael and Donna, 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.