Gene Feist was born in Brooklyn to a beautician mother and bar-owner father, and grew up with a love of reading that made him a target of teasing when he was young.
Feist was born Eugene Feist in Brooklyn, the son of Hattie (Fishbein), a beautician, and Henry Feist, a bar owner and, later, a cab driver. His father owned and operated a bar in Coney Island at Seagate and Surf Avenue named Indian Village but referred to as "The Bucket of Blood" due to its rough clientele. Feist's love of reading made him a target of teasing during his youth. 
