Earned a degree in pharmacology at the Albany College of Pharmacy, Albany, New York.
Father of Mark Engel
Father of MCA Pay Television president Charles Engel.
Was a licensed pharmacist and, with his brother Irving, also a pharmacist, who owned a chain of pharmacies in Manhattan before he moved to Hollywood in 1930.
Was working for Darryl F. Zanuck at Warner Bros., when Zanuck left to form his own studio. Engel came with the idea of naming the company 20th Century Pictures. Later the company merged with Fox Pictures to become 20th Century-Fox.