- Max Gordon (producer)
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Max Gordon (June 28, 1892 - November 2, 1978) was an American theatre and film producer. His credits included My Sister Eileen, which he produced both on stage and on film.
Contents
Biography
Born Mechel Salpeter, Gordon was the youngest son of immigrants from Poland. His older brother, Cliff, used the stage name of "Gordon", and Max used then it also. Cliff, an entertainer in vaudeville, died at age 32 (in 1913).
In his early 20s Gordon formed a vaudeville agency with Albert Lewis, a former vaudeville and burlesque performer. They specialized in providing sketches for shows, and their material, and performers, played the Keith and Orpheum circuits. He became an independent producer in 1930.[1]
In Depression-era New York, Gordon became one of New York's most successful producers.[2] Gordon was, among other things, notable as the producer, with Lewis of the original stage incarnation of The Jazz Singer, which ran from September 1925 to June 1926.[3]
He discovered Judy Holliday.
His reputation during this era was immortalized in Cole Porter's song "Anything Goes" from the musical of the same name:
When Rockefeller still can hoard enough
money to let Max Gordon
produce his shows--
Anything goes!See also
- Beloff, Ruth. Gordon, Max. Encyclopaedia Judaica. Eds. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Vol. 7. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 772-773. 22 vols.
References
- ^ Cullen, Frank, Hackman, Florence, and McNeilly, Donald. Vaudeville, old & new (2007), Routledge, ISBN 0-415-93853-8, p. 448
- ^ Gordon, Max [né Mechel Salpeter]. (1892-1978). Oxford Companion to American Theatre, 2004, p272.
- ^ Listing ibdb.com, Accessed 01 Dec 2007.
External links
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